Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images
Plus: Atlanta lives to see another day while Minnesota does not
Trae keeps Atlanta on life support in 119-117 win in Boston
Hand up, I was wrong to call this series a gentleman’s sweep, because Trae Young had other ideas, including heading back to Atlanta for a game 6. Down by as much as 13 with 8:33 remaining and down 12 with under 5:30 remaining, “Ice Trae” Young led the Hawks storming back with 14 points over the final 3:30, including the game-winning step-back three from almost the leprechaun at center-court.
Dejounte Murray was serving a one-game suspension for making contact with an official after game 4, so Atlanta was really leaning on Young with him playing 44 minutes and accounting for 68 total points between his 38 scored and 13 assists. His production gave Atlanta over 57% of their scoring.
Jaylen Brown scored 35 points, which is a career-high in closeout opportunities, and he’ll look to have similar production in Atlanta when they get another chance on Thursday.
Nuggets brush off cold start and beat Wolves 112-109 to send them packing
Coming off their thrilling overtime win on Sunday to avoid the sweep, Minnesota came out firing. They opened on a 27-12 run over the first 10 minutes, spearheaded by eight points each from Anthony Edwards and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for eight during that quarter, but finished with 63 together, accounting for 81 total when factoring in assists, nearly three fourths of Denver’s offense.
Minnesota was able to tie it twice in the final couple minutes, but Jokic scored seven of Denver’s final nine points and Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out for the second-straight game, bringing in the curtains on what was a wild first season of the Rudy Gobert era for the Wolves.
Denver now gets to sit nice and pretty at their mile-high homes waiting for a Saturday game 1 hosting the Suns, who they face in the conference semifinals for the second time in the last three postseasons. Both come into the second round having won their first round series in five hotly-contested games.
Booker goes nuclear in third, Suns end Clippers’ season after 136-130 win
Devin Booker has already been arguably the best player across the league in these playoffs and his game 5 explosion only reinforces that, finishing with 47 points (including 25 in the third, where he outdid the Clippers’ 24 as a team) on 19-27 shooting with eight rebounds and 10 assists. Kevin Durant, who Booker’s looked up to for years, called the performance “spiritual” to watch firsthand.
The two squads were tied at 86 about midway through the third when Booker started to take over on both ends, scoring or assisting on the game’s next six made field goals. It ended as 18 unanswered points from the Suns over the next 2:30, giving them enough breathing room to handle a 15-0 Clippers run late in the fourth, saving them from an embarrassing collapse.
With the Clippers heading into a potentially-tumultuous offseason — albeit with Ty Lue expected to remain at the helm — the Suns go in the opposite direction, preparing for the Nuggets in the conference semifinals.
