Another day, another three-game slate. That seems to be the norm these days, but with the Nets somehow unable to force a Game 5, there will only be a pair of games on Wednesday. Two of the games on Tuesday were nail biters and the other one not so much, but it was still competitive and very enjoyable playoff basketball. We’re just getting started, but it’s been a ride. The three games from Tuesday will be looked at below in addition to a quick look ahead to Wednesday.
Heat 97, Hawks 94 (MIA wins series 4-1)
Even without Jimmy Butler (right knee inflammation) and Kyle Lowry (left hamstring strain), the Heat took care of business in Game 5 and will play either the 76ers or Raptors in the second round. Butler was a huge reason why the team had a comfortable series lead heading into Game 5, but Tuesday night was all about Victor Oladipo. After not appearing in any of the first three games and scoring six points on 3-of-10 shooting in 23 minutes of Game 4, Oladipo got the start and led the team with 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He also hit all four of his free throws and added one rebound, three assists, three steals, three 3-pointers and two turnovers in 36 minutes, and this is just another example of how deep this Miami team is. People may forget that Dipo was a two-time All-Star when he was on the Pacers a few years ago, and he showed flashes of the great things of which we know he’s capable and helped his team close out the series rather comfortably. Whether he plays this much when Butler and/or Lowry return remains to be seen, but coach Spo probably won’t keep him out of the rotation altogether after this. Bam Adebayo was nothing short of impressive either, going 7-of-11 from the field and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe for a full 20/11/4/1/1 line with three turnovers, and it makes sense that this was his highest scoring output of the series given Butler was in street clothes. Max Strus provided a huge spark in the second quarter in particular, going on a personal 10-0 run and finishing with 15 points, five boards, two dimes, two steals, three 3-pointers and two turnovers in 32 minutes of a start, while Tyler Herro hit half of his 12 shots for a fuller-than-usual 16/1/4/2/1 showing with no triples and three giveaways in 33 minutes. Caleb Martin exited the game briefly with a left wrist injury but returned and finalized his evening with 10 points, four boards, one steal and two turnovers in 21 minutes off the pine, while starters Gabe Vincent (9/4/4 with two steals, one triple) and P.J. Tucker (4/5/2 with two steals) both had quiet nights offensively. Duncan Robinson missed all five of his shots (all three-pointers) in 13 scoreless minutes, and his Game 1 eruption seems like the most distant of memories. The 76ers are up 3-2 on the Raptors as it stands, but the Raptors have a ton of momentum after winning the last two, so the Heat will be curious to see how that series pans out.
Only one player on the Hawks scored more than 12 points in the team’s final game of the 2021-2022 season, and it was De’Andre Hunter, who almost tripled that number. Hunter went nuts for 35 points (11-of-21 FGs, 10-of-11 FTs), 11 rebounds, two assists, three steals, three 3-pointers and four turnovers in 43 minutes before fouling out late. He was the sole reason Atlanta was able to stick around in this game at all, as he made a couple big shots late to get them within a possession, only to not even get a shot off in the final seconds when they were down three points. The points and rebounds marked new playoff career highs, and it was Hunter’s first postseason double-double, and while the Hawks’ season is over, Hunter will go out on the highest of notes. Conversely, Trae Young did not go out in style, as his miserable series continued in Game 5 with just 11 points on 2-of-12 shooting (7-of-9 FTs) while also adding eight boards, six assists and six turnovers without any triples or defensive stats in 41 minutes. It was a series to forget for the young superstar, as he tallied fewer field goals made (22) than turnovers committed (30) throughout the series, with three of his four lowest point totals throughout the entire season (regular and playoffs) coming in this series alone. It’s not every night that Trae will play the stifling Miami defense, and there’s a reason he finished at the tail end of the first round in standard fantasy leagues on a per-game basis this season, which is around where managers should expect to take him when they next enter the draft room. Clint Capela was questionable coming in with a right knee hyperextension, and he only played 19 minutes before being ruled out for the game due to the same injury. Capela hit just one shot for two points and also tallied eight boards, one steal, one block and two turnovers, and reserve Onyeka Okongwu helped pick up the slack with eight points, five boards, one assist and two steals in 26 minutes. Kevin Huerter (12/1/3/2/1 with two triples and three turnovers) and Danilo Gallinari (12 points with two triples and nothing else besides a turnover) were both second on the team in scoring but probably should have been better especially with Bogdan Bogdanovic (right knee soreness) inactive. Delon Wright (7/7/3) played heavy minutes off the bench again and was a big part of the rotation in this series, while John Collins was miserable with seven points, two boards, and nothing else in 26 minutes despite starting.
Grizzlies 111, Timberwolves 109 (MEM leads series 3-2)
What. A. Game. Minnesota was down three points with 8.2 seconds left, and Chris Finch drew up a beautiful ATO play that led to an Anthony Edwards three, which he drained to tie the game at 109 apiece with 3.7 seconds left. Then, Ja Morant took matters into his own hands, receiving the ball from Dillon Brooks on an out-of-bounds play and driving for a lefty layup to go up two with just a second remaining. The Wolves didn’t have any timeouts and Karl-Anthony Towns’ heave from nearly 60 feet was well off, which sealed the deal for the now 3-2 Grizzlies. King Ja nearly triple-doubled for the second time this series, falling one assist shy and finishing with a game-high 30 points to go with a career-high tying 13 rebounds, nine assists, three steals and one 3-pointer in 45 minutes. Morant did shoot just 9-of-22 from the floor and 11-of-17 from the line while committing five turnovers, but he stepped up to the plate when it mattered most and gave the Grizzlies an excellent chance to come out of this series on top. Oh, and if you somehow missed it, Ja threw down this absolutely ferocious dunk on Malik Beasley, who is reportedly now considering retirement, which ended up being a turning point for Memphis. It doesn’t stop there, as Ja scored the final 13 points of the game for the Grizzlies in just four minutes, hitting plenty of clutch free throws, a huge three and of course the layup to cap off a night to remember for the MIP. Brandon Clarke may have been the most impressive player in this game even amidst Ja’s heroics, finishing with 21 points (9-of-14 FGs, 3-of-7 FTs), 15 rebounds, three assists, one block and one turnover in 37 minutes off the bench. His line was fantastic but still, it may not do him justice as he was everywhere in this one, maintaining his high energy on both ends of the floor and really helping the Grizzlies get back into it when they were down double digits. The high playing time may have been partially due to the struggles of Jaren Jackson Jr., who played only 18 minutes before fouling out and finishing with 12 points, five boards, one dime, two blocks, one 3-pointer and two turnovers, but they have to play him a ton going forward. JJJ’s fouls have been a serious problem in this series in particular, committing at least four per game in all five games and 26 of them total (5.2 per game). He’s an incredible talent but it’s the discipline that’s lacking, so maybe he minds his manners in Game 6. I haven’t even gotten to Desmond Bane yet, who was superb with 25 points on 9-of-20 shooting, four rebounds, one assist, two steals and three swats in 45 minutes, and they needed this with Dillon Brooks’ miserable 8/4/4 line on 3-of-18 shooting. Xavier Tillman got the start again with Steven Adams out of the rotation but was quiet with two points and three boards in 16 minutes, while Tyus Jones (5/3/5 with two steals and a triple) and Kyle Anderson (eight points, five boards, two steals) were both solid despite playing 20 minutes or fewer each.
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The Timberwolves were very much in control of this game for much of it, but a 37-24 fourth quarter in favor of Memphis resulted in a loss and now makes Game 6 a win-or-go-home contest. Karl-Anthony Towns led the team in scoring with 28 points on 7-of-15 shooting (9-of-9 FTs) and double-doubled in the process, hauling in 12 boards and also recording one assist, three steals, two blocks, five 3-pointers and unfortunately seven turnovers in 35 minutes. KAT committed nearly one-third of the team’s turnovers, as they gave the ball away 22 times which did not do them any favors in what would have been a fantastic victory. D’Angelo Russell (12/2/8 with two steals, two triples, four turnovers) and Patrick Beverley (9/3/6/1/1 with one trey and five turnovers) did their parts in the turnover department, and D’Lo only attempted 10 shots (made four) in 39 minutes. Besides Anthony Edwards’ 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting, he added just one rebound, three 3-pointers and one turnover with nothing else, which is quite uncharacteristic of him, but he did hit that huge shot with seconds left to at least give Minny a fighting chance. Jarred Vanderbilt played 22 minutes in the starting unit and scored just six points but at least added 10 boards with a steal and a block, while Taurean Prince had some very meaningful playing time with a 10/3/3 line in 19 minutes of action. Naz Reid played very well (nine points, two boards, one block, one triple in 13 minutes) early when KAT was in some early foul trouble, while Malik Beasley (eight points, six boards, one triple) is reconsidering his whole life after getting demolished by Ja. I’m putting the dunk here again — it was that insane.
Suns 112, Pelicans 97 (PHO leads series 3-2)
It seemed as though every time the Pelicans looked like they were on the verge of making a comeback, the Suns had an answer. New Orleans got within two possessions pretty late but couldn’t get their shots to fall down the stretch, and Phoenix now has a 3-2 series lead and is one step closer to a meeting with either the Mavericks or Jazz (DAL leads 3-2). Mikal Bridges was outstanding in the victory, scoring a playoff career-high 31 points (three shy of his career high), and he also chipped in a huge line of five boards, two assists, two steals, four swats, four 3-pointers and only one giveaway in 47 minutes, and no, this game did not go to overtime. Bridges shot 12-of-17 from the floor and made all of his threes and free throws (3-of-3), and this is just the punch the Suns needed with Devin Booker (right hamstring strain) still not able to play. Chris Paul bounced back rather nicely after a four-point dud in Game 4, shooting 8-of-18 from the field and draining all six of his freebies for a 22/6/11 line with three steals and one turnover in 39 minutes, and he also enjoys extra offensive production with Book sidelined. Deandre Ayton nearly double-doubled with a 19-point, nine-board performance, and he was efficient as always with a 8-of-13 clip from the floor but added just three dimes and three turnovers otherwise. Cameron Payne finally made some noise after really struggling in this series with 12 points, three boards, two steals and two 3-pointers in just 12 minutes before fouling out late, and Cam Johnson was quiet offensively with a 8/9/5 evening but threw down a huge dunk late to basically clinch the victory. Jae Crowder (9/2/2 with a steal) was rather quiet in 23 minutes full of fouls, while Landry Shamet scored six points with a trey and two steals in 25 minutes off the bench.
The No. 8 Pelicans aren’t through yet, and there’s no one in the world that’s watched this series that thinks they’ve given up at this point. Brandon Ingram led the team in scoring within his 22/5/5 line while adding a steal and a 3-pointer, but he turned the ball over five times and his percentages (7-of-19 FGs, 7-of-11 FTs) were quite unlike what we’ve seen from BI this series. He took a pretty hard fall in the fourth quarter and landed on his tailbone but got up pretty quickly, and moments later he jammed his pinky on a Mikal Bridges swipe, but he still played through it all. CJ McCollum didn’t have the most efficient evening either with a 7-of-22 mark from the floor (6-of-7 FTs) for 21 points, and he went just 2-of-12 in the second half of action. CJ did add some nice numbers otherwise including eight boards, five assists, two blocks, one triple and two turnovers in 40 minutes, and when your two best players combine to shoot 14-of-41 from the field and the team still stays pretty competitive throughout, that’s a good sign. Jonas Valanciunas hauled in 14 more boards, his third most of the series, and also had a nice night offensively with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. JV didn’t block any shots in his 32 minutes but he did add three dimes and a steal while sinking all three of his free throws, and his rebounding has been huge all in all despite a loss on Tuesday. Jose Alvarado is an absolute menace and forced Chris Paul into two eight-second violations, and he was solid on offense too with 12 points and two triples in 20 minutes, adding his usual two steals as well. CP3 went off on this occasion but Alvarado didn’t make it easy on him, and there’s no reason Willie Green shouldn’t give Grand Theft Alvarado the 12 minutes that Devonte’ Graham (two points, zero field goals) played. Herb Jones has had a stellar series but actually looked like a rookie at times tonight, scoring just four points but at least grabbing seven boards with two steals, two blocks, one 3-pointer and three turnovers in 40 minutes. Jaxson Hayes scored eight points with three boards and nothing else in a start but only played 16 minutes, and Larry Nance only posted a 5/4/1 line despite playing 20 minutes.
Wednesday’s games
– Bulls @ Bucks (MIL leads series 3-1) – Zach LaVine entered the league’s health and safety protocols on Tuesday, and while he’s technically still considered questionable, there’s a good chance he won’t play and therefore give the Bucks a really good chance at advancing. Alex Caruso (concussion protocols) is also questionable to play, and if he also can’t give it a go, it may not be pretty for Chicago. Caruso didn’t even travel with the team, so that’s not a great sign, but he could get there on his own if all goes well, but I wouldn’t bank on that. On Milwaukee’s side, Khris Middleton (left MCL sprain) remains out while George Hill (abdominal strain) is questionable.
– Nuggets @ Warriors (GSW leads series 3-1) – the Nuggets will look to keep themselves alive, and if they can get a Game 5 win, we’ll have ourselves a series. Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. (DEN) and James Wiseman (GSW) are the only three players on the injury report, as fully expected.