Road Teams Score Big Wins in Semifinals, Western and Eastern Conference Breakdown
WESTERN CONFERENCE-Semifinals
(1) Oklahoma City vs (4) Denver
Denver leads 1-0
The Denver nuggets knocked off the League’s number one seed Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night on the road to take a one game lead in their Western Conference Semifinal matchup.
The Nuggets won game one 121-119 behind a monster night from MVP finalist Nikola Jokic who had 42 points and 22 rebounds in the win. Jokic became just the fourth player in league history to have at least 40 points, 20 rebounds and five assists in a playoff game.
Aaron Gordon had 22 points and 14 rebounds, including a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds remaining to seal the two point comeback victory for the Nuggets.
It was Gordon’s second game-winner of the playoffs. His dunk on a Jokic miss as time expired lifted the Nuggets past the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 4 of their first-round series.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the other MVP finalist in the game, had 33 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder, who hadn’t played in more than a week after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. Alex Caruso added 20 points, six assists and five steals.
Next: Game 2 @ OKC May 7 – 830pm, TNT/TruTV
(6) Minnesota vs (7) Golden State
It took the Warriors seven games to dispatch the second seeded Houston Rockets this weekend in Houston to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.
They face a well-rested Wolves squad that bounced Luka Doncic, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games to earn their spot in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Steph Curry leads the Warriors with 25 points per game while the Wolves are paced by Anthony Edwards’ 28 points per game.
Next: Game 1 @ Minnesota May 6- 830pm, TNT/truTv
EASTERN CONFERENCE-Semifinals
(1) Cleveland vs (4) Indiana
Indiana leads 1-0
The Cavs lost their home opener 121-112 to the Pacers to open their Eastern Conference Semifinal Round. The #1 seed in the Eastern Conference could not keep pace with Tyrese Halliburton and the Pacers.
The dynamic Indiana point guard scored 22 points — including a go-ahead 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter — had 13 assists and made crucial defensive plays that propelled the Pacers Sunday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 33 points and broke Michael Jordan’s NBA playoff record with his eighth straight game of at least 30 points in a series opener.
Evan Mobley added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were without point guard Darius Garland for the third straight playoff game due to a sprained left big toe.
Besides struggling with Indiana’s pace, Cleveland was done in by poor 3-point shooting. The Cavs were second in the NBA during the regular season with 15.9 3s per game, but went 9 of 38. The 23.7% rate was their second-worst of the season.
Next: Game 2 @ Cleveland May 6 – 6pm
(2) Boston vs (3) New York
New York leads 1-0
The Knicks erased a 20-point second half deficit to stun the defending champion Boston Celtics in Game One of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series.
It took overtime but New York was able to outlast the Celtics 108-105 Monday night in Boston to steal home court advantage from the C’s. Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby each scored 29 points for New York.
Karl Anthony-Towns added 14 points and 13 rebounds for New York, which lost all four games against Boston during the regular season.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both had 23 points for the defending champion Celtics, who had an NBA playoff-record 45 missed 3-pointers to blow a game they appeared to have in control. Derrick White added 19 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Next: Game 2 @ Boston May 7- 6pm
TNT/TruTV
