phoenix suns Y Miami Heat They hit hard this Monday by achieving two victories at the start of their respective Conference semifinals in the playoffs of the NBA.
In Phoenix, led by Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker, The Suns defeated Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks 121-114 in the Western Conference semifinal game.
Ayton and Booker overflowed with 25 points and eight rebounds and 23 points, nine sacks and eight assists, respectively, eclipsing the excellent performance of the Slovenian Luca Doncicwho totaled a whopping 45 points, 12 recovered balls and eight goal passesand will seek to improve their luck this Wednesday again on the opposite court to try to equalize the series to the best of seven games.
Doncic’s 45 points were worth little.
The Suns came out confident and were never far behind, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first few minutes and rarely taking their foot off the gas. They shot 50.5% from the field, gained the rebounding advantage also 51-36 and beat the Mavericks for the 10th consecutive time, counting regular season games. It marks the first time Dallas has advanced to the second round of the postseason in Doncic’s four-year NBA career..
Doncic and Maxi Kleber seemed up for the challenge, but the rest of the Mavs didn’t do much until it was too late. Kleber finished with 19 points. Booker, who missed three games during Phoenix’s first-round win over the Pelicans with a strained right hamstring, returned Monday but seemed a little more cautious than usual about staying healthy. That hesitation slowly disappeared in the first quarter on Monday when he scored 13 points and added six rebounds and four assists. For his part, Ayton dominated in the paint and midrange, hitting his usual variety of shots and dunks. Veteran point guard Chris Paul added 19 points and Cam Johnson had 17 off the bench for the Suns. All five Suns starters scored in double figures.
Miami took advantage of a Sixers without Embiid
In the Capital of the Sun, with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo accurate in their aim, the Heat struck first in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers by beating them 106-92.
Herro and Adebayo overflowed with 25 points and seven assists and 24 points and 12 rebounds, respectively, to give Miami the first point. The second game of this series will be played on Wednesday in Florida.
Bam Adebayo made a great match.
The Heat, the top seed in the East, played without star point guard Kyle Lowry, who is injured in his hamstring. For their part, the Sixers did not have their star Cameroonian scorer Joel Embid, who is on indefinite leave due to orbital fracture suffered in the last game of the first round series that they beat the Toronto Raptors (4-2).
Jimmy Butler added 15 points for Miami, which also had 10 points apiece from Gabe Vincent and forward PJ Tucker. The 76ers were without Embiid, the regular-season MVP finalist, who isn’t even in Miami as he recovers from his injury. The Cameroonian is not expected to play in the second game of this series on Wednesday. And as expected, he missed it. For the Sixers, Tobias Harris scored 27 points, and was seconded by Tyrese Maxey with 19 and James Harden with 16 cartons, nine sacks and five assists.
Miami came out aggressive from the start, putting Tucker on top of Harden and having him protect him in an approach similar to the one he used against Trae Young in their previous series against the Atlanta Hawks.
Harden defeated on the Sixers bench.
The locals came to have an advantage of up to 12 points in the first quarter, after a 10-2 run fueled by eight goals from Herro, who started the game on the bench. The margin was still comfortable (46-36) in the middle of the second after another basket by Herro. Harden’s double with 28 seconds left in the second quarter put the 76ers up 51-50 heading into halftime, their first lead of the night.
However, Adebayo received a pass from Tucker for a dunk that put Miami up 62-61 in the third, and that would be the final lead change of the game. Late in the third period, a 10-0 run built a good cushion, and then another 13-2 run early in the fourth quarter pushed the Heat’s lead to 98-77.
The best five plays of Monday in the NBA
The schedule and results of the 2021-2022 NBA playoff conference semifinals:
— EASTERN CONFERENCE
– Miami Heat (1) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (4) (The Heat lead the series 1-0)
Monday, May 2: Heat – Sixers 106-92
Wednesday, May 4: Heat – Sixers
Friday May 6: Sixers – Heat
Sunday May 8: Sixers – Heat
Tuesday, May 10: Heat – Sixers (if necessary)
Thursday, May 12: Sixers – Heat (if necessary)
Sunday, May 15: Heat – Sixers (if necessary)
– Boston Celtics (2) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (3) (Bucks lead series 1-0)
Sunday May 1: Celtics – Bucks 89-101
Tuesday, May 3: Celtics – Bucks
Saturday May 7: Bucks – Celtics
Monday May 9: Bucks – Celtics
Wednesday, May 11: Celtics – Bucks (if necessary)
Friday May 13: Bucks – Celtics (if necessary)
Sunday, May 15: Celtics – Bucks (if necessary)
— WESTERN CONFERENCE
– Phoenix Suns (1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (4) (Suns lead series 1-0)
Monday, May 2: Suns – Mavericks 121-114
Wednesday, May 4: Suns – Mavericks
Friday May 6: Mavericks – Suns
Sunday May 8: Mavericks – Suns
Tuesday, May 10: Suns – Mavericks (if necessary)
Thursday, May 12: Mavericks – Suns (if necessary)
Sunday, May 15: Suns – Mavericks (if necessary)
– Memphis Grizzlies (2) vs. Golden State Warriors (3) (Warriors lead series 1-0)
Sunday May 1: Grizzlies – Warriors 116-117
Tuesday, May 3: Grizzlies – Warriors
Saturday May 7: Warriors – Grizzlies
Monday, May 9: Warriors – Grizzlies
Wednesday, May 11: Grizzlies – Warriors (if necessary)
Friday May 13: Warriors – Grizzlies (if necessary)
Monday, May 16: Grizzlies – Warriors (if necessary)
We would like to thank the author of this short article for this incredible material
NBA Playoffs: Doncic scored 45 points but Dallas lost to Phoenix