The Denver Nuggets on Thurday rallied to push LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to the brink of elimination from the NBA playoffs as the Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 50 points from Joel Embiid, clawed back a win against the Knicks.
Defending champions the Nuggets erased a 10-point first-quarter deficit to beat the Lakers 112-105 in Los Angeles.
Aaron Gordon scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, while two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Nikola Jokic added 24 points, another 15 boards and nine assists for the Nuggets, who took a 3-0 stranglehold on the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series.
Photo: Mike Watters-USA Today
No NBA team has rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series.
“We’ve got to figure out how to get one [win] on Saturday to stay alive,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
The Nuggets have now won 11 straight games against the Lakers, including their sweep in last season’s Western Conference Finals.
Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA Today
“I don’t think it is necessarily about our opponent,” Gordon said. “I think it’s about what we do and who we have as our guys in our locker room. We just focus on being great each and every night, and let the result take care of itself.”
Down by four at halftime, the Nuggets pulled away relentlessly in the third quarter and were never really challenged in the fourth.
“It’s a make or miss league,” Ham said. “When you can’t get a bucket, they’re scoring, they’re on a run, it’s tough.”
Photo: AP
Anthony Davis scored 33 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, while James scored 26 points with six rebounds and nine assists, but D’Angelo Russell went scoreless, missing all seven of his attempts, and Davis had just three points in the final period.
Jamal Murray, who made the buzzer-beating game-winner in the Nuggets’ crushing 101-99 victory on Monday, added 22 points and nine assists, while Michael Porter Jr chipped in 20 points and 10 rebounds for Denver.
Both the 76ers and the Orlando Magic avoided falling 0-3 down, Philadelphia with a spectacular offensive display from reigning NBA MVP Embiid in a 125-114 victory over the Knicks.
The Magic routed the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-83 to cut their series deficit to 2-1.
After the 76ers dropped two games at Madison Square Garden, Embiid defiantly insisted they were the “better team” and would right the ship at home.
He made sure they did, connecting on 13 of 19 shots, including five of seven from three-point range.
He scored 18 points in the third quarter, when the Sixers erased a three-point halftime deficit and pushed their lead to 13 going into the fourth quarter.
After his big night, Embiid revealed he was playing with Bell’s palsy, a condition that causes muscle weakness in one side of the face.
“Yes, it’s pretty annoying,” Embiid said of the condition, which usually resolves in a matter of weeks or months. “My left side of my face, my mouth and my eye. It’s been tough, but I’m not a quitter.”
Embiid added eight rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot, and was assessed a flagrant foul for pulling Mitchell Robinson to the court by the ankle in the first quarter — moments after Embiid had been sent crashing by Knicks forward O.G. Anunoby.
Embiid said he was just trying to make sure Robinson did not fall on him, but Robinson left the arena after the game wearing a protective boot.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 39 points and 13 assists. Josh Hart scored 20 points, but Game 2 hero Donte DiVincenzo had just five and the 76ers have a chance to level the series tomorrow.
In Orlando, Florida, Paolo Banchero scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Magic, who handed the Cavs their most lopsided playoff defeat ever.
“I just wanted to come out and be aggressive,” Banchero said. “Going down 3-0 is a lot different than being down 2-1. So [I] knew we had to get this game — and we’ve got to do it again on Saturday.”
Jarrett Allen led the Cavs with 15 points and Donovan Mitchell added 13, but Cleveland connected on just 39 percent of their shots from the field.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS