Boston are on the verge of progressing to the second round after picking up a 128-96 thumping of Philadelphia on Monday for a 3-1 series lead. It was an offensive clinic from Joe Mazzulla’s side, recording a 141.0 offensive rating — their seventh best of the entire season — as they shot the lights out and applied plenty of ball pressure defensively to give the hosts no chance. Boston went 24/53 from deep for a 61.4% TS%, with Payton Pritchard starring with six three-balls on his way to 32 points and five assists. Jayson Tatum was excellent again, with 30 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists and although Jaylen Brown had 20 points and seven rebounds, he was again rather loose with his facilitating and general offensive play. Neemias Queta and Luka Garza both struggled to contain Joel Embiid, combining for nine fouls in 28 minutes, but it didn’t matter thanks to Boston’s offensive onslaught.
Philadelphia’s season is hanging on by a thread after their beatdown in Game 4. Now facing a trip back to Boston for the next game, Philly have their work cut out for them if they’re to progress to the second round, even with Embiid returning from appendectomy surgery on Monday. The big man was about as good as anyone could reasonably have expected in his first game in three weeks, recording 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes of play. Tyrese Maxey was solid, with 22 points and six assists and Paul George had some good moments on both ends with 16 points and three steals. VJ Edgecombe again looked out of his depth in the postseason in his rookie year, with just six points and four rebounds, while Quentin Grimes was largely tidy on his way to 12 points and six assists. However, the team’s defence had no answer for Boston’s shooting, while Philly struggled their way to just a 48.6% eFG% and were out-rebounded 30-51.
I am expecting a similar result on Wednesday, with Philly simply looking out of their depth in this matchup. Boston will have everything their way at home and the only thing that will make this game close is a nuclear performance from Embiid, Maxey or both.
New York recorded their best game of the postseason on Sunday, beating Atlanta 98-114 for a crucial road victory. With the series now at 2-2 and with home court advantage back with New York, Mike Brown’s team are in the box seat. It was a much-improved defensive effort, holding the hosts to just a 102.3 offensive rating, as OG Anunoby proved his value again and Karl-Anthony Towns had an impressive two-way night. The big man had a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and two blocks to dominate the contest, while Anunoby dropped 22 points, 10 boards, one steal and one block. Jalen Brunson was rather sloppy, recording six turnovers and just a 50.3% TS% to go with his 19 points and three assists, but Josh Hart, Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson were able to provide handy contributions to lift New York to an impressive road win.
Atlanta may well end up ruing the Game 4 defeat, as they failed to repeat the dose from Game 3 to lose a home game and put New York back in control of the series. The hosts simply couldn’t get going on the offensive end, shooting a dismal 10/41 from deep and giving away 18 turnovers to give themselves no chance in this contest. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a good shooting night, going 5/10 from deep to break the trend amongst his teammates, but his six turnovers undid a lot of his work. The same went for CJ McCollum, who had four giveaways and was limited to just 17 points this time around, while Jalen Johnson had just 14 points and five steals, again struggling against Anunoby’s defence. Dyson Daniels had some moments with six points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals, but there were very few positives from this Atlanta performance.
We should see some kind of regression from Atlanta specifically on Wednesday, with a better shooting night almost certainly on the cards. That will help them stay competitive in this series and although we saw NY hit new heights on Sunday, I can’t see them maintaining that level on both ends, and that means this line is too big.
San Antonio did it again on Monday, racing away from Portland for a 114-93 victory. Now with a 3-1 series lead, San Antonio can seal the deal at home on Wednesday, and their ending to Monday’s contest will give them plenty of confidence. A 27-7 run to start the fourth quarter gave the visitors a massive 101-81 lead and was enough to steer them to victory, again proving to be too good in the second half, continuing a theme of their wins in this series. It was De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama who led the charge down the stretch, with Fox recording 11 points in the fourth, while Wembanyama pulled off another mammoth performance, with 12 points in the fourth to end with 27 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and seven blocks to absolutely dominate. Fox ended with 28 points, seven assists and two blocks in one of his best games in a San Antonio jersey, while the likes of Stephon Castle, Davin Vassell and Keldon Johnson all chipped in with tidy offensive performances to keep San Antonio moving.
Portland will again feel like they were in this contest before slipping away in the fourth quarter. They could not generate any offence in the fourth quarter, with the likes of Jrue Holiday (four turnovers) and Scoot Henderson (zero points in nine minutes) providing nothing offensively in the period. Deni Avdija did his best on the night with 26 points on 72.4% TS%, but his five turnovers, combined with Holiday’s four, hurt Portland. Holiday finished with 20 points, four assists and six TOs, while Jerami Grant showed some flashes with 17 points. However, Toumani Camara, Robert Williams III, Donovan Clingan and Henderson were all outplayed in this contest, and I am picking more of the same on Wednesday.
Wembanyama has dominate in his first-ever playoff series and Portland simply can’t score consistently when he is on the floor. His length and rim protection is going to continue to provide Portland all sorts of issues in Game 5 and this series will be a wrap as we head back to San Antonio.