Top Stories

• Wolves crush Suns again

• Mavs steal Game 2 in LA

• Pacers tie series vs Bucks

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Games of the day

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

Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points, a career high in the playoffs and led another incredible defensive performance by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 105-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series. Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert each had 18 points for the Wolves to make up for a clamping of Anthony Edwards by the Suns, who held him to 15 points on 3-for-12 shooting after letting him score 33 in the opening game. The big three of Booker, Durant and Beal combined to shoot 18 for 45, with McDaniels being a big reason for the struggle. Minnesota has held a 2-0 series lead only one other time in franchise history, against Denver in the first round in 2004 en route to a 4-1 series victory. The teams head to Phoenix for Game 3 on Friday night.

Luka Doncic scored 32 points and the Dallas Mavericks overcame the return of Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard to beat Los Angeles 96-93 on Tuesday night and tie their Western Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece. Leonard had 15 points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes of his first game since March 31. He hadn’t played or had any contact practices during that stretch because of inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee. Paul George and James Harden led the Clippers with 22 points each. Ivica Zubac had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Kyrie Irving added 23 points for the Mavs and P.J. Washington added 18 points. Game 3 is Friday in Dallas.

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Around the League

• Milwaukee desperately needs Giannis back. While they can tread water and compete with Indiana without him thanks to Dame, Pascal Siakam is running wild on their defense. Without a big wing defender on him, Siakam could easily continue to average 35+ for the rest of this series (he’s averaging 36.5 through 2 games). Having Giannis back could help slow Pascal down, and an extra 32/12/6 wouldn’t hurt Milwaukee either.

• Injury Updates: Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf) could miss 2-4 weeks. Jimmy Butler (knee) will miss multiple weeks. Zion Williamson (hamstring) will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks. Julius Randle (shoulder) is out for the season. Christian Wood (knee) plans to return Game 3 vs Denver. Benedict Mathurin (shoulder) underwent surgery and is out for the season. Josh Richardson (shoulder) had surgery and will be out for the season. Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) will miss at least 1 more week. We wish all these guys speedy and successful recoveries.

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NBA Playoff Matchups

Eastern Conference

(1) Boston vs (8) Miami: Series is 1-0

Jimmy Butler will likely miss most, if not all of this series.

Boston punched Miami in the mouth in Game 1, winning by 20 points. without Butler, the Heat don’t have the #1 option needed to carry their offense. Tyler Herro is too inconsistent and Bam Adebayo isn’t aggressive enough. This series might end up a sweep.

Prediction: Boston in 5

(2) Knicks vs (7) 76ers: Series is 2-0

Joel Embiid’s knee is a concern, as are the non-Embiid minutes for Philly. If they don’t find a way to at least stay even with New York without Joel on the floor, they won’t last long.

Philly blew a 5 point lead with less than 30 seconds to go and gave that game to New York. Expect all the games to be close, and for the Sixers to take care of business at home.

Prediction: Knicks in 6

(3) Milwaukee vs (6) Indiana: Series is 1-1

Giannis will miss at least Game 1, Dame can keep that team afloat in his absence.

Milwaukee showed the importance of experience when it comes to the playoffs. For Indiana, Pascal Siakam (the only one with playoff experience) had 36 and 13. Dame scored 35 in the first half and didn’t have to play much in the 2nd half.

Pacers steal one on the road, making games 3 and 4 the most important games of the series. Giannis needs to return soon to turn the tide in Milwaukee’s favor

Prediction: Bucks in 7

(4) Cleveland vs (5) Orlando: Series is 2-0

Orlando has the defense to keep the Cavs in check, but their lack of playoff experience in Game 1 was obvious. They will need to improve their 3 point shooting while cutting down the turnovers drastically. Cleveland has expectations Orlando doesn’t, so the 2 teams are playing for completely different reasons. (Cavs want Donovan Mitchell to stay)

Orlando’s inexperience continues to show in this slow paced slugfest. Even with their elite defense, the size of Cleveland inside is overwhelming.

Prediction: Cavs in 6

Western Conference

(1) OKC vs (8) New Orleans: Series is 1-0

Zion Williamson will miss at least some of this series, which changes things dramatically.

Game 1 came down to the final buzzer. The size and versatility of the Pels made things tough for OKC all game. Count on every game this series to be close.

Prediction : New Orleans in 6

(2) Denver vs (7) Lakers: Series is 2-0

Denver beat LA for the 9th straight game, continuing to be a problem the Lakers can’t solve. No matter who LA throws at Joker he continues to dominate, so LA’s strategy should be to make him a scorer and shut everyone else down. Denver needs to push the pace in transition and keep LA in rotation in the halfcourt.

LA was up 20+ points in the second half, and ended up losing on a Jamal Murray buzzer beater. They can make this a series with a pair of wins at home.

Prediction: Nuggets in 5

(3) Timberwolves vs (6) Suns: Series is 2-0

Minnesota had the #1 ranked defense all year long for a reason. They shut every Sun but KD down completely, with Beal and Booker COMBINING for 32 points. A shutdown like that is unlikely to happen again to that extent, but with Anthony Edwards elevating like he always does in the Playoffs, and KAT playing as a legit second option, this series could be quick. Phoenix needs to get Booker and Beal going, as well as use Nurkic as a post playmaker. Both teams lost key pieces, as Kyle Anderson and Grayson Allen both sustained injuries that kept them from returning.

The Wolves defense clamp Phoenix again, and instead of one player beating the Suns, it was a complete team effort led by Jaden McDaniels 25 points. The Suns need to figure out a way to get open shots against the #1 ranked defense in the league, and they also need to crash the glass more.

Prediction: Wolves in 4

(4) Clippers vs (5) Mavericks: Series is 1-1

No matter what the Clippers have thrown at Luka, he’s always cooked them worse than most teams. This year, LA added Harden and brought Westbrook back, and while they won’t really help guard Doncic, Dallas can’t stop all the weapons LA has now. In the end, it will all come down to Luka and Kyrie vs Kawhi and PG. Whichever duo elevates their team more will win their team the series. With Kawhi likely missing Game 1, Dallas might get a headstart.

LA came out hot, Russ and Harden having the same amount of points as the entire Maverick squad in the 1st half. Luka and Kyrie struggled, and Dallas was not good on either end of the floor. Don’t count on Luka continuing to struggle though.

Dallas overcame Kawhi’s return to even out the series. Luka bounced back, as expected, despite the looks LA threw at him. Game 3 in Dallas will be pivotal to gain control in this series.

Prediction: Clippers in 7

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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.