By Tony Jones, Law Murray, Joe Vardon, James Jackson, Jared Weiss, Darnell Mayberry, Will Guillory, Kelly Iko, Anthony Slater Mike Prada and Zach Powell
The Golden State Warriors were set to face an uphill battle heading into Saturday’s Game 3 matchup against the Houston Rockets. With Jimmy Butler injured and sidelined, the Warriors took care of the Rockets in a 104-93 win after a slower start.
Led by Stephen Curry’s team-high 36 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, Golden State erased a double-digit deficit to gain a slight advantage in the series. Buddy Hield stepped up in Butler’s absence, notching 17 points and plucking three steals in 29 minutes, while Gary Payton II tallied 16.
Brandin Podziemski (10 points, four rebounds) was the only starter, along with Curry, to score in double figures. Fred VanVleet scored 17 points for Houston, Alperen Sengun 15, Dillon Brooks 13 and Amen Thompson 11.
The Warriors led the Rockets 2-1 with Game 4 slated for Monday night.
Earlier in the night, Denver’s Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon provided the first buzzer-beater of the playoffs, and it came on a dunk.
With less than a tenth of a second to spare, Gordon slammed home Nikola Jokić’s air ball as the buzzer sounded to give the Nuggets a 101-99 win over the LA Clippers to even their first-round series at two games apiece.
The Oklahoma City Thunder became the league’s first team to advance to the conference semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The Thunder, who were pushed down to the wire in a potential closeout, put the finishing touches on the Memphis Grizzlies with a 117-115 victory in a Game 4 that came down to the wire.
Shai-Gilgeous Alexander finally broke open in the playoffs, leading Oklahoma City with 38 points, five rebounds and six assists on 13-of-24 shooting. Jalen Williams added 23 points and five assists, while Iaiah Hartenstein added a 11-point, 12 rebound double-double and Chet Holmgren added 11 points.
Scottie Pippen Jr. led the Grizzlies with 30 points and 11 rebounds while Santi Aldama and Desmond Bane poured in 23 points apiece.
In the first game of the day, the Cleveland Cavaliers slammed the door on any hope the Miami Heat had of finding some momentum on their home court, earning a 124-87 win on Saturday to take a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. The 37-point defeat was Miami’s worst loss ever in the postseason and also marked the third-largest playoff win in Cavaliers’ franchise history.
The Cavs were dominant defensively and had a balanced score sheet, with six players in double figures. Ty Jerome set a franchise record with 11 assists off the bench in a playoff game to go with 13 points.
The series remains in Miami for Game 4, where the Cavaliers will have a chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Curry shines as Hield provides stability
Jimmy Butler spent all of Game 3 in a brown sweat suit on a padded seat next to the coaches on the Warriors’ bench. He was unable to get the all-important green light from Rick Celebrini, the franchise’s lead medical decision maker, in the lead up to Game 3.
That put the Warriors in a vulnerable spot against a tough Rockets team. Golden State looked shaky in the first half. The team fell down 11, didn’t score a point in Steph Curry’s four minutes on the bench and only had 21 points nearly halfway through the second quarter.
But Buddy Hield gave them a spark of life with his most important game in a Warriors uniform, Steph Curry finally found some room, they closed the first half on a 9-0 run and blasted off in the fourth quarter, winning the final 12 minutes 35-22 to rip away a Game 3 win and a 2-1 series lead without the ailing Butler.
The star: Curry, despite the lack of a co-star against a Houston defense that was draped all over him. The extra attention on Curry also led to a free avenue of layups and dunks for Gary Payton II, who made five fourth-quarter shots to close with 16 points.
Now it gets dangerous for the Rockets. The medical team held Butler out to give his body two extra days to heal, but he worked out on the practice court pregame, according to a league source, and there’s belief that Butler will be back for Game 4 on Monday night with a chance for the Warriors to go up 3-1. — Anthony Slater, Warriors beat writer
Rockets blow opportunity to regain charge of series
Saturday night was arguably one of the uglier playoff games you’ll ever see — a 48-minute fracas featuring 25 turnovers, 18 lead changes and poor offensive (or good defensive) basketball.
And in a hostile environment, in a situation Houston’s young players have never been in before — a road playoff game — they were once again reminded of the difference experience makes, the magic of Steph Curry and the vitality of free throws.
The Rockets missed a golden opportunity to snatch back control of the series, surrendering a 13-point lead and failed to capitalize against a Warriors team missing star wing Jimmy Butler.
No Rocket finished the game with more than 17 points. More importantly, Houston’s defensive scheme, which has been solid for most of this series, lost Curry on numerous occasions — an inexcusable offense given Butler’s absence. The veteran guard torched the Rockets, his presence a constant reminder of the level Houston is yet to reach. To make matters worse, the Rockets, the league’s worst free-throw shooting team during the regular season, missed 10 of their 24 trips to the line in an 11-point loss.
Nothing about this matchup makes a ton of sense through three games, and neither the eye nor numbers test will make it any easier to digest. But the playoffs have always been about completing a job, and in Curry, the Rockets have a problem they’ve yet to fully solve. But then again, neither has anyone else. — Kelly Iko, Rockets beat writer
Nuggets 101, Clippers 99
(Series tied 2-2)
Nuggets fight — literally — to the bitter end
The Denver Nuggets fought. And fought. And fought. And held on for dear life.
But the main thing is they fought, which was the major talking point from interim head coach David Adelman after their blowout Game 3 loss. The Nuggets were punked in Game 3, and they were the aggressors in Game 4. The took the battle to the Clippers. They fought, and scratched and clawed. They rebounded in packs. When they watched the film on Friday morning of Game 3, they knew they didn’t put their best foot forward. They had issues schematically and with making shots. But they knew none of that mattered if they weren’t the more physical team.
As a result, we have a 2-2 series, heading back to Denver for Tuesday night’s Game 5 at Ball Arena. Denver knew that in order to get a game on the road in this series that it would have to get down in the mud, and that’s exactly what the Nuggets did in their most important game of the season. — Tony Jones, NBA staff writer
Clippers nearly outlasted Nuggets, but not quite
The conversation after LA’s blowout victory over the Nuggets in Game 3 was about validating the win on Saturday to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. A Game 4 victory would obviously have given the Clippers three chances to close the series out, whereas a Nuggets win would reset the series and give home court advantage back to Denver, in addition to momentum.
This looked like a blowout once Nikola Jokić mad more third quarter baskets than the entire Clippers team. The Nuggets led by 22 with 11 minuted left to play. But the Nuggets simply didn’t have enough players to sustain that kind of effort or advantage. The Clippers did, and they shifted to an offense first lineup of James Harden, Norman Powell, Bogdan Bogdanović (in place of starter Kris Dunn and defenders Derrick Jones Jr. and Nicolas Batum), Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac.
The result was a 32-9 Clippers blitz, capped by Bogdanović’s put back that gave the Clippers a 97-96 lead with 71 seconds left. But the Clippers went early, tying the game at 99 and giving the Nuggets a chance to win with eight seconds left.
The fact that the Clippers lost on a putback dunk by Aaron Gordon, off a missed prayer from Jokić, shows how close this series is. After all, it was Gordon who missed a go-ahead dunk in the final minutes of Game 2, and the Clippers never trailed again. Gordon redeemed himself Saturday, allowing the Nuggets to avoid an overtime where their five starters had all played north of 40 minutes.
And now, this series resets to a best of three, in part because the Clippers weren’t good enough in the third quarter. —Law Murray, Clippers writer
Thunder 117, Grizzlies 115
(Thunder won series 4-0)
Gilgeous-Alexander found his groove
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t have the most efficient first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies. But when it was closing time, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s MVP finalist was at his best. Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 38 points to lead the Thunder to a series sweep Saturday afternoon and a second-round date with the winner between the LA Clippers and Denver Nuggets. Whichever team emerges will have to contend with a well-rested Thunder squad whose best player might have just hit his stride.
In the first three games, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 24.3 points on 22.7 shots per game, shooting 35.3 percent from the field. He made only 6 of 24 3-pointers (25 percent). But in Game 4, Gilgeous-Alexander made 13-of-24 shots and 11-of-13 free throws. He went 1-for-4 on 3-pointers, while adding five rebounds and six assists. When he wasn’t working his way to the foul line, Gilgeous-Alexander tormented the Grizzlies on a series of mid-range pull-ups, slithery drives and crafty finishes.
It was a masterful performance in which Gilgeous-Alexander was in control throughout. It was a reminder that no matter how Oklahoma City is performing, Gilgeous-Alexander always lurks as a lethal closer. — Darnell Mayberry, NBA staff writer
Memphis overwhelmed without Morant
The Grizzlies put up a valiant effort to extend their season, despite the absence of star point guard Ja Morant due to a hip injury. But the potent defense and timely shotmaking from the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder was too much to overcome. Even though Memphis kept the game within reach until the final seconds, its lack of shot creation without Morant made it too difficult to crack the best defense in the NBA when it needed to most.
Once again, Scotty Pippen Jr provided a crucial scoring boost for Memphis, finishing with 30 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late. He did everything he could to provide what was lacking without Morant. Now, the Grizzlies prepare for an offseason that will be filled with questions about how this team can improve and if it’s worth keeping this core together when it’s only won one playoff series over the last five seasons. The Grizzlies won at least 48 games in three of the last four seasons, but this team needs major changes to keep up with the top teams in the West. — Will Guillory, NBA staff writer
Cavaliers 124, Heat 87
(Cleveland leads series 3-0)
Cavs win comfortably as Cleveland fans look to … Green Bay?
The Browns’ pick of Shedeur Sanders on Day 3 of the NFL Draft came about just as the Cavs and Heat returned to the court from halftime.
Cleveland promptly came out and took 3 1/2 minutes to make a shot and opened the third quarter 1-of-10.
Then again, the Cavs were up 20. They had a cushion to withstand the Sanders shock.
The Browns’ drafting of one of the most historic draft plummeters will suck up all the oxygen in Cleveland. Fear not, fellow northeast Ohioans. When you catch your breath, you’ll see the basketball series featuring your favorite team is, for all intents and purposes, over.
The Cavs played one of their best games in two months Saturday, blowing Miami’s doors off after two slightly close, occasionally uncomfortable home games. No team has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs, and the Heat have shown no indication they will be the first.
If there was going to be a juicy storyline from Game 3 — the Darius Garland-Tyler Herro spat — well, that blew up because Garland missed the game with a left big toe sprain. It’s the same injury he dealt with near the end of the regular season and he re-aggravated it at the end of Game 2, moments before announcing the Cavs’ gameplan was to attack Herro (suggesting Herro is weak on defense).
Garland was on the court for Friday’s light practice, with basketball shoes on, and was seen jumping and shooting, but didn’t work out before Saturday’s game. It’s as good a guess as any that Cleveland simply felt, being up 2-0 at the time, there was no reason to force Garland on Saturday. The Cavs were proven correct.
With no Garland on the floor, the Heat were without any obvious targets to hunt while on offense (Sam Merrill started for Garland and didn’t play particularly well, but he’s an underrated defender). In fact, Herro’s former Miami teammate Max Strus started the game guarding Herro tight. Herro shot just 2-of-6 in the first half and was 5-of-13 for 13 points when this lopsided game ended.
Allen shredded Miami’s smaller frontcourt with 22 points and nine rebounds, and Mobley, the new NBA Defensive Player of the Year, had a highlight block to go with his 19 points, six rebounds and steal. De’Andre Hunter added 21 points off the bench.
In other words, Cleveland had no trouble making up for the 24 points Garland averaged in the first two games.
Now, go back to freaking out over Sanders, Cleveland. — Joe Vardon, senior NBA writer
Heat’s offense goes cold
Untimely scoring droughts will be the key culprit behind Miami’s on-court issues this season. Like most Heat teams, this one displays a knack for getting key stops, scores and staying close enough to make a run, but going against such a dominant Cavaliers team — even without Garland for Game 3 — requires opponents to click on all cylinders.
Unfortunately for the Heat, missed layups, traveling violations, air balls and stagnant offense made Game 3 more of a math equation than anything else. Miami simply ran out of possessions to keep the matchup close, which has been a theme behind the team’s struggles this season.
A double-digit rebound deficit, roughly half as many free throws as Cleveland and losing the turnover battle did Miami no favors despite shooting well from deep. But luck from long range did only so much, as the Heat shot far worse on 2s.
Trash talk from Garland and Strus got the Heat charged up throughout the week, but the Cavaliers simply played better on Saturday, gradually diminishing every Heat fan’s chant to mere whispers with better ball movement and possession control. The Heat fight hard to compete through every game, but it was evident early they wouldn’t have much for Cleveland if the latter maintained rhythm on offense.
Mobley and Allen controlled the paint as Adebayo often settled for jumpers and Herro attempted 13 shot attempts with only two trips to the free-throw line. Both Miami stars combined for nine of the team’s 12 turnovers, leaving the Heat no room to dominate on either side of the ball as their season nears an end. — James Jackson, NBA staff editor
Mobley steps up
The Heat had their big opportunity to capitalize on the momentum from Game 2 without Garland in the way, but the offense completely fell off a cliff. This was a dominant defensive performance from Mobley to shut down so much of what Miami was trying to do. Mobley takes away most of the Heat’s handoff actions that create quick looks at 3, plus his closeouts and rim contests took most of Miami’s role players out of the action.
But it also highlighted how limited the Heat’s playmaking is and how there is little connectivity between the offensive triumvirate of Herro, Adebayo and Davion Mitchell. We’re used to seeing Heat teams struggle offensively because of the talent, but ever since the Jimmy Butler trade, it’s been an uphill battle to get the offensive execution you expect from an Erik Spoelstra team. It looks like that climb is just about over. — Jared Weiss, NBA staff writer
(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
