Atlanta stunned New York on Tuesday with a 107-106 victory at Madison Square Garden to tie the series 1-1. It was a dramatic fourth quarter which saw Atlanta work their way back into the contest after being down by 14 points midway through the third. Atlanta’s defence turned up in the final period to hold New York to just 15 points, seeing Atlanta take the lead with less than three minutes to play and they did just enough to hold on for the win as Mikal Bridges missed a midrange fadeaway game-winner attempt, to see Atlanta take home court advantage. It was an excellent shooting night from CJ McCollum, who ended with 32 points and six assists, although his missed pair of free throws in the clutch left the door open for Bridges in what was a nervous final few seconds for Quin Snyder and his team. Jonathan Kuminga added real impact off the bench with 19 points and two steals, while Onyeka Okongwu did his job well with 15 points and eight rebounds. Star men Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker again struggled to make their marks on the game, but Johnson at least came to life in the second half to finish with 17 points and eight rebounds, including a clutch fastbreak dunk in the final 10 seconds, making for a crucial win in New York.
From New York’s perspective, they will be extremely disappointed in how the fourth quarter played out. Nothing went to plan on the offensive end as, they went just 5/22 from the floor, but even with that they were in the fight largely thanks to a couple of big threes from Jalen Brunson in the final 90 seconds of play. However, Bridges’ missed jumper forced NY to accept defeat in Game 2, in what was a tough shooting night all round. Brunson led the scoring with 29 points, but shot just 10/26 from the floor, while Bridges also had a forgetful shooting night, going 3/10. There was also close to no production from New York’s backup guards, with Jose Alvarado, Miles McBride and Landry Shamet combining to go 0/7 from the field. Karl Anthony-Towns had some positive moments with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Josh Hart was perhaps New York’s best player with 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists but NY’s fourth-quarter offence ultimately let them down.
There was a strange flow to game two, with New York controlling almost the entire contest only to let it slide in the end, and that has me happy to side with Mike Brown’s men in this crucial Game 3. Brunson has been the best player on the floor this series, and with Johnson and Alexander-Walker’s continued offensive struggles, New York are value as underdogs.
Cleveland was again too good for Toronto in Game 2, recording a 105-115 victory at home to go up 0-2. The visitors simply had no response to Cleveland’s barrage of offence, with Darko Rajakovic’s team ending the night with a 116.2 defensive rating while giving up a whopping 22 turnovers. It was painful viewing, with Immanuel Quickley on the sidelines, and Brandon Ingram was the main culprit in what was a forgetful night from the forward, with five turnovers and just seven points to finish as a -15 in his 36 minutes of play. Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett each had four turnovers to make matters worse, but the pair shot well, with Barnes recording 26 points and 5 assists on 62.6% TS%, while Barrett had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, shooting 10/13 from the field. Jakob Poelt looks to be on his way out of the rotation, playing just nine minutes after being exposed defensively, while Barrett was also taken advantage of on that end, as Cleveland marched to a 2-0 lead.
It was a convincing performance from Cleveland, who led from start to finish after a 26-19 first quarter. Donovan Mitchell again led the way with 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists while James Harden also impressed with 28 points, 4 assists and 5 steals to make for a great night out for Cleveland’s starting guards. Evan Mobley also had an elite offensive evening with 25 points on 11/13 shooting, while adding 8 rebounds and one block to his stat line, and Jarrett Allen held down the paint with 10 rebounds, two steals and three blocks to be a team-high +18.
This series is looking like a mismatch, but as we move to Toronto for games 3 and 4, I expect the hosts to be much more competitive. Cleveland covered just 17 of their 41 road games in the regular season, and with this series essentially on the line here, Toronto will be much more engaged defensively and will leave Scotiabank Arena with the win.
Minnesota recorded another impressive victory over Denver on Wednesday, this time in a 119-114 victory to level the series at one game apiece. We saw a similar blueprint to Minnesota’s success in their 2024 playoff series, with Rudy Gobert locking down Nikola Jokić in the fourth quarter to help Minnesota surge into the lead and win a crucial road game. In the box score, Gobert didn’t have much to speak of, with just two points and seven rebounds, but his impact defensively in the fourth quarter is what helped Minnesota win this game. On the other side of the ball, Anthony Edwards top scored with 30 points and 10 rebounds and Julius Randle was much improved in Game 2, posting 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Donte DiVincenzo was another of Minny’s X-factor players, recording 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists while going 4/7 from deep to be a +20 on the night and make it advantage Minnesota in this series.
Being so used to seeing Jokić take over games in the fourth quarter, it was shocking to see him go just 1/7 from the floor in the fourth on Wednesday, as he continually failed to back down Gobert in the post. This saw him end the quarter as a -10, and although he still had a strong statistical showing in the game with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists, this time he couldn’t emerge for Denver when it mattered most. Jamal Murray also struggled in the fourth, shooting just 1/5 from the field for two points, but he impressed earlier to end the game with 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Christian Braun looked sprightly with 16 points, five assists and two steals, while Tim Hardaway Jr added 16 points off the bench, but the likes of Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson, and Bruce Brown all failed to fire in Game 2, making it game on in Minnesota on Friday.
Both teams will be up for the fight in this clash and Jokić in particular will be more prepared with the defensive coverage that he is going to receive. He’ll continue to steer Denver’s offence, but this game is going to be a real scrap, and with the line at 233.5, I am happy to take the under here.