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.
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
RSS