Tag: NBA Playoffs

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown was a big enough problem for the Indiana Pacers even before an All-NBA snub that may have given him an added desire to show how much he can do for the Boston Celtics.

“I think he cares about it in a way that motivates him, and I think he doesn’t really care about it at all,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after watching Brown match his playoff career high of 40 points in Boston’s 126-110 victory over Indiana in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night.

“He understands that winning is the most important thing,” Mazzulla said. “He just cares about the right stuff.”

Two nights after his game-saving 3-pointer and one day after he was left out of the voting for the league’s top 15 players, Brown scored 10 points during a 20-0 Boston run that turned a first-quarter deficit into a second-quarter lead that the Celtics never relinquished.

Asked if the All-NBA snub motivated him, Brown said, “I wouldn’t say that.” Asked to elaborate, he said colorfully: “We’re two games from the finals. I don’t got time to (care).”

Jayson Tatum and Derrick White scored 23 points apiece and Jrue Holiday had 15 points and 10 assists for the top-seeded Celtics, who lost Game 2 in both of their previous series this postseason.

Pascal Siakam scored 28 points for Indiana, which heads home for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday nights in an arena where they have won 11 straight games — including six in the playoffs — since March 18. Tyrese Haliburton, who had 25 points and 10 assists in the series opener, had 10 points and eight assists Thursday before leaving the game in the third.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Haliburton injured his left hamstring — the same injury that kept him out of 10 games in January.

“We need Ty, but ‘next man’ mentality,” Siakam said. “We’ve got to play together. This team got where we’re at by playing together. … It’s on us to continue.”

One game after the Celtics jumped to a 12-0 lead and Indiana spent the rest of the first half clawing its way back, the lead changed hands 10 times in the opening quarter, with the Pacers holding a 27-22 edge with 1:14 left.

Then Boston scored the next 20 points.

Indiana missed nine straight shots and committed four turnovers during the drought that lasted more than six minutes. Brown scored 10 on his own during the run and had 24 at the half; he opened the third quarter with two quick baskets to give the Celtics a 61-52 lead.

But Siakam also came out hot in the second half, hitting four baskets in the first four minutes – a pair of 2s and a pair of 3s – to make it a two-point game. Boston pulled away again – this time for good, scoring 16 of the next 21 points.

Indiana never got within single digits again.

Brown scored 26 points Tuesday night, when the Celtics won thanks to some unforced errors by the Pacers — especially Haliburton — down the stretch. On Wednesday, Brown was left off the All-NBA teams; last year’s selection to the second team qualified him for a five-year supermax extension that made him the highest-paid player in the NBA.

“I mean, he has it going,” Holiday said. “Y’all see what I see. Great player. Great leader. But wants to win. And takes thinks into his own hands. So I’m glad to have him on my side. I ride with him. The way JB’s been playing, man, it’s outstanding.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

MILWAUKEE — Bobby Portis apologized to his teammates for his ejection from a Game 4 loss that put the Milwaukee Bucks on the brink of playoff elimination.

Then he made amends by helping the Bucks keep their season alive.

Portis and Khris Middleton each scored 29 points and the short-handed Bucks routed the Indiana Pacers 115-92 in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

The Pacers still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday in Indianapolis.

“Thursday will be fun,” Portis said. “I can hear some ‘Bobby Sucks!’ chants. I’m ready, man. I’m fired up. I’m already ready for it.”

Milwaukee won without injured stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard as the Fiserv Forum crowd chanted: “Bucks In Seven.”

Antetokounmpo has missed this entire series and hasn’t played since straining his left calf on April 9. Lillard sat out a second straight game after injuring his Achilles tendon in the Bucks’ 121-118 Game 3 loss on Friday.

Bucks coach Doc Rivers was asked after Game 5 about their potential availability for the rest of the series.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” Rivers said. “I know I hope. I think they’re very, very, very close.”

The Bucks stayed alive thanks in part to a huge performance from Portis, who had been ejected just seven minutes into Game 4 after getting into a skirmish with Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard. Portis said he watched the rest of that game while still in uniform, wondering about all the ways in which his presence on the floor might have made a difference.

He came back Tuesday and produced the highest playoff point total of his career. He also pulled down 10 rebounds.

“I maybe crossed the line, you feel me, and let my team down by getting ejected and not being available for my team,” Portis said. “I pride myself so much on being available.”

Middleton had his third straight game with at least 25 points, and he also had 12 rebounds and five assists.

The Bucks are trying to win a series after trailing 3-1 for the first time in franchise history. The Pacers are attempting to advance beyond the opening round for the first time since 2014.

“We’ve just got to understand that they’re a team that’s on the brink of their season being done, and they’re playing desperate, they’re playing hard, as they should be,” Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton said. “At the end of the day, they outcompeted us tonight. They played harder. They played better. They kind of just dominated us in every facet of the game tonight.”

Haliburton scored 16 points to lead the Pacers, who had their lowest scoring total of the season. Myles Turner added 13. Obi Toppin, Nembhard and Pascal Siakam had 12 each.

Malik Beasley scored 18 points for Milwaukee. Pat Beverley had 13 points and 12 assists, and sparked a second-quarter run that put the Bucks ahead for good.

Indiana started the night intent on closing this series early.

Two nights after shooting 22 of 43 from 3-point range in Game 3, the Pacers went 7 of 12 from beyond the arc in the first 10 minutes and led 31-21 late in the first quarter.

But the Bucks responded with an 18-2 run as Beverley continually irritated the Pacers — to the delight of the crowd.

Shortly after a 3-pointer by Middleton put the Bucks ahead for good, Toppin was called for traveling in front of Milwaukee’s bench. As Beverley tried to grab the ball from him, Toppin shoved the Bucks guard and drew a technical foul.

On the Bucks’ ensuing possession, Beverley hit a short jumper while getting fouled by Haliburton. Beverley did a particularly showy version of the “Too Small” taunting gesture before sinking his free throw to complete a three-point play that gave Milwaukee a 39-33 lead.

“I thought Pat Beverley was fantastic,” Rivers said. “His scoring was good, but I thought his playmaking was unbelievable tonight.”

Milwaukee led 53-48 at halftime and then scored the first nine points of the third quarter. Indiana got the margin down to nine midway through the third, but the Bucks outscored the Pacers 20-8 over the next 5½ minutes to put the game away.

“We just didn’t play with the consistent compete level we needed to,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I’ll take responsibility for that. I didn’t have these guys ready the way they needed to be ready to play this game.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

NEW ORLEANS — The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the playoffs facing questions about their relative youth and playoff inexperience.

Four games later, the Thunder is on to the second round after a convincing sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans.

“That’s another thing for us to not think about,” Thunder forward Jalen Williams said. “We’re coming in to compete — no matter how old we are.”

The average age on the Thunder roster was less than 24 years old when the playoffs began. But coach Mark Daigneault, named NBA coach of the year this week, has been quick to point out that youth and maturity are not mutually exclusive.

“We have a mature team. We have a committed team,” Daigneault said. “We’ve got an uncommon group of people and players.”

That maturity was on full display in the way the Thunder have committed to defense, holding the Pelicans to 92 or fewer points in each game of the first round.

“Just a great defensive series by everybody that stepped on the court,” Daigneault said. “I was curious to see what version of ourselves we’d bring into the series and we were very much in character.”

The Thunder earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference by winning 57 games and edging out defending champion Denver in a tie-breaker.

In the first round, Oklahoma City dispatched the 49-win Pelicans, albeit with New Orleans’ leading scorer, star power forward Zion Williamson, sidelined by a hamstring injury that occurred during the Western Conference play-in tournament.

“Obviously, with the injury to Williamson, that changed the complexion of their team coming into the series,” Daigneault said. “I thought they really competed, played hard and tested us in a lot of different ways.”

Thunder shooting guard Lu Dort further bolstered his reputation as a physical defender, holding Pelicans’ high scoring wing Brandon Ingram well below his usual scoring average of nearly 21 points per game.

Ingram averaged 14.3 points in the series, topping out at 19 points in Game 3.

Meanwhile, Thunder offensive leaders Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams each averaged better than 20 points per game and saw their performances complemented by steady production from Josh Giddey and rookie center Chet Holmgren.

Game 1 was a relative struggle for Oklahoma City, which escaped with a 94-92 victory. But the Thunder won Games 2 and 3 by 32 and 21 points before closing out the series with an tougher, eight-point victory on the road against a Pelicans squad that looked unwilling to capitulate in front of its own fans.

In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Pelicans led by five and the New Orleans crowd was engaged. That’s when Oklahoma City turned the game on its head with an 18-2 run fueled as much by stifling defense as clutch shooting.

As the final minutes ticked off the game clock, Pelicans fans filed out while Thunder fans who were clustered not far from the Oklahoma City bench could be heard barking, as they’ve been known to do recently as a way to honor their team’s effort.

Now the Thunder will have time to rest before learning of their second-round opponent — either the Los Angeles Clippers or Dallas Mavericks, whose series is tied 2-2.

“We were never worried about the media or the narratives around our team,” Thunder guard Josh Giddey said. “We knew the talent we have in our locker room is good enough to go with anyone around the league.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA