The Philadelphia 76ers shook off the absence of Joel Embiid to comb Brooklyn out of the NBA playoffs on Saturday because the Phoenix Suns closed in on a second-round berth and the Los Angeles Lakers made a press release in opposition to Memphis.
The Sixers romped into the following spherical of the playoffs with a dominant 96-88 victory over the Nets that accomplished their 4-0 triumph within the best-of-seven collection.
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Philadelphia trailed by 11 factors early within the third quarter however remodeled the competition with an 18-4 run to take the lead earlier than closing out victory with a fourth-quarter rally.
The Sixers’ win was all of the extra spectacular given the absence of Most Valuable Player candidate Embiid, who suffered a proper knee sprain in Thursday’s 102-97 sport three win.
Tobias Harris led the scoring for Philadelphia with 25 factors and 12 rebounds, whereas De’Anthony Melton got here off the bench to provide 15 factors and lead the fourth-quarter surge.
Harris mentioned the Sixers have been decided to make use of Embiid’s absence as a motivator.
“He’s the MVP. And once we heard he wasn’t enjoying, I feel it was a chance for everyone else to essentially step up and perceive that we’ve obtained to get a win with out the massive fellow,” Harris told broadcaster TNT.
In the West, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the rest of the Lakers let their play answer the trash-talking of Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks, exploding out of the gate on the way to a playoff record-tying 35-9 first-quarter lead.
They led by as many as 29 in the second quarter as they rolled to a 111-101 victory.
“It’s important for us to play well,” James mentioned. “We wished to play higher than we did in sport two and I feel we did that. But we nonetheless have room for enchancment.”
Davis bounced back from a dismal showing in the Lakers’ game two defeat to score 31 points and grab 17 rebounds.
He also had two steals and three blocked shots, while James added 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Brooks, who had mocked NBA all-time scoring leader James as “old” after sport two, saying he was joyful to “poke bears,” was tossed early in the third quarter after hitting James in the groin with his arm — a blow that sent James to the court in pain.
“There was a lot of game to be played when that incident happened,” James mentioned. “So (I) simply tried to rise up, defend my crown jewels, and transfer on to the following play.”
Davis said the Lakers weren’t interested in a war of words with the Grizzlies.
“We just want to take care of our home floor,” he mentioned.”We’re not getting into the back and forth. We let our game speak for itself.”
Brooks, booed each time he touched the ball, completed the night time with seven factors.
Even a stunning 45-point show from star guard Ja Morant might save the Grizzlies. Morant, again in motion after lacking sport two with a right-hand damage, scored 22 straight factors for Memphis within the fourth quarter.
In the primary sport of a Los Angeles double-header, Kevin Durant completed with 31 factors, 11 rebounds and 6 assists to assist Phoenix beat the Clippers 112-100 for a 3-1 collection lead.
Devin Booker plundered 30 factors and veteran Chris Paul added 19 in a late burst of scoring as Phoenix bagged their second straight win in Los Angeles.
The Suns want only one extra win to ebook their place within the Western Conference semi-finals, with sport 5 set for Phoenix on Tuesday.
The Clippers’ hopes of squaring the collection had been dealt a blow by the absence of Kawhi Leonard, who joined Paul George on the injured checklist.
Russell Westbrook produced one of his finest performances for the Clippers with a 37-point show.
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In Miami, the eighth-seeded Miami Heat gained a 2-1 collection lead over Eastern high seeds Milwaukee, taking full benefit of the absence of the Bucks’ MVP contender Giannis Antetokounmpo in a 121-99 victory.
Jimmy Butler scored 30 factors on 12-of-19 taking pictures for the Heat earlier than departing late within the third quarter after taking a tough fall. After visiting the locker room he returned to the bench however in sport during which Miami led by double digits a lot of the way in which he didn’t return on the ground.
Duncan Robinson scored 20 factors and fellow reserve Kyle Lowry added 15 because the Heat bench delivered 59 factors.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer mentioned the group would proceed to “monitor” Antetokounmpo, who suffered a back contusion in game one, missed game two and was a late scratch on Saturday.
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