Top Stories

• Pacers win a close Game 3

• Nuggets blowout Timberwolves

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Games of the day

Last Night’s Top Games! (link to the box scores of every game from yesterday)

Tyrese Haliburton finished with 35 points, his second straight career high, and had seven assists. Pascal Siakam added 26 points and seven rebounds, while Myles Turner had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers. Donte DiVincenzo led the Knicks with 35 points, going 7 of 11 on 3-pointers. Jalen Brunson had 26 points and six rebounds. Alec Burks, who came in having played 1 minute in the postseason, scored 14 points in 21 minutes for the Knicks, who played without starting forward OG Anunoby. It's unclear whether Anunoby can recover from his injured left hamstring to play Sunday, although he traveled with the team to Indianapolis. Indiana is 4-0 at home this postseason and hosts Game 4 on Sunday.

Jamal Murray rebounded from a rough start to the Western Conference semifinals with 24 points to lead the Denver Nuggets on a 117-90 blowout in Game 3 that made the Minnesota Timberwolves the last team in the NBA to lose this postseason. Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points. Anthony Edwards had a quiet 19 points to lead the Wolves, who went just 10 for 32 from deep even with a 4-for-5 effort from Karl-Anthony Towns. The Wolves got Rudy Gobert back after he missed Game 2 for the birth of his son, but the Nuggets played the ball around so well outside of the paint so well that his interior defense was largely a nonfactor. Game 4 is in Minneapolis on Sunday night.

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Around the League

• Injury Updates: Kristaps Porzingis (calf) is likely out for the entire second round. Bojan Bogdanovic (foot and wrist) had surgery and is out for the season. Mitchell Robinson (ankle) has a fracture and will b out 6-8 weeks. Maxi Kleber (shoulder) is out indefinitely. Julius Randle (shoulder) is out for the season. Benedict Mathurin (shoulder) underwent surgery and is out for the season. We wish all these guys speedy and successful recoveries.

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NBA Playoff Matchups

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston vs (4) Cleveland: Series is 1-1

With a healthy Jarrett Allen, Cleveland has the size and defense to contend with Boston. Expect them to actually give Boston a run for their money.

(Game 1) Boston did what was expected of them, holding down homecourt. Both teams were missing their starting centers, but the Cavs got beat so bad it didn’t matter who was missing.

(Game 2) The Celtics did what they tend to do, playing down to their competition and getting embarrassed. Now with an even series, Boston now has to play from behind to regain homecourt advantage.

Prediction: Celtics in 7

(2) Knicks vs (6) Pacers: Series is 2-1

Indiana doesn’t play both sides of the ball like New York does, and Tyrese Haliburton is going to have to actually play defense.

(Game 1) New York continues to execute in the clutch, coming back to beat Indiana in the final minutes of the 4th (albeit with the help of some questionable calls). Tyrese Haliburton had 6 points…

(Game 2) Haliburton bounced back and had a good game, but despite Jalen Brunson missing part of this game with an injury Indiana couldn’t overcome Donte DiVincenzo and Isaiah Hartenstein at the end of the game.

(Game 3) Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana to a narrow home win to keep their series hopes alive. Jalen Brunson didn’t play very well, but Donte DiVincenzo had a career high in playoff points (35).

Prediction: Knicks in 5

Western Conference

(1) OKC vs (5) Dallas: Series is 1-0

OKC has enough shooting to keep up with the Mavs, but the duo of Luka/Kyrie plus their size will ultimately be the deciding factor.

(Game 1) OKC was able to keep Luka in check, holding him to 19 points. He needs to find a way to deal with Lu Dort if they want a chance to win.

(Game 2) Luka was back to his old self, and with a balanced team effort Dallas stole a game on the road. Now with the blueprint to win, which is ignoring Josh Giddey and Gordon Hayward, Dallas is set up for success.

Prediction : Dallas in 6

(2) Nuggets vs (3) Timberwolves: Series 1-2

(Game 1) Minnesota came out guns blazing, with Ant Man dropping 43 points. If Joker can’t find a way to be effective and efficient against the bigs of Minnesota, Denver could be in serious trouble.

(Game 2) Even without the likely DPOY Rudy Gobert missing the game due to the birth of his first child, Minnesota won by 26, holding Denver to 80 points (their lowest of the entire season). The Nuggets are in unfamiliar territory, being down 0-2 in a series for the first time in years.

(Game 3) Jokic and Murray came alive to keep Denver’s hope alive. They shot the Wolves out of the gym to keep themselves out of the 3-0 hole.

Prediction: Wolves in 6

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Overtime Thoughts

Hoopgrids

Hoopgrids is a daily basketball trivia game. You cross match each category to find a player that fits both. The rarer the player, the lower the score. The goal is to get the lowest rarity score possible.