Five storylines from exciting weekend of NBA playoff action–April 23 & 24

Grayson Allen (Google Images)

The National Basketball Association is just past the midway point of the first round of the 2022 playoffs. Here are five headlines from the weekend that was in the NBA.

5) Time to believe in the New Orleans Pelicans.

Without Devin Booker who has a hamstring injury, the Phoenix Suns look completely lost at the moment. After barely pulling out a 114-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, the Suns were spanked on Sunday in game four of the series, 118-103. Suns star point guard Chris Paul had a disastrous game four, as he only had four points in 35 minutes. Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 30 points, while Jonas Valanciunas had 26 points and 15 rebounds for the double double. If there was ever a time to pick an upset, now is the time. The Pelicans are 6.5 point underdogs against Phoenix for game five with the series tied at two. Forget about the Pelicans being the number eight seed. This Pelicans squad is better and should be favoured to win the series outright.

4) Celtics in control against the Nets.

The Boston Celtics are one win away from sweeping the Brooklyn Nets. On Saturday, Jayson Tatum became the fourth youngest player to score 35 points and record five steals in a playoff game as the Celtics beat the Nets 109-103. Tatum had 39 points and a career-high six steals (regular season or playoffs). Meanwhile, Nets head coach Steve Nash is on the hotseat again. He is getting completely outcoached by Ime Udoka and it is not even remotely close. The biggest problem is simple. Nash is not putting their star player Kevin Durant in a position to be a force.

3) Raptors and Nuggets stay alive.

On the weekend, the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets were on the verge of being swept, but pulled through with game four wins. The Raptors beat the Philadelphia 76ers 110-102 on Saturday thanks to 34 points by Pascal Siakam, while the Nuggets beat the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, 126-121 thanks to 37 points by Nikola Jokic.

2) Jazz deliver impressive comeback.

On Saturday, the Utah Jazz became the fifth team in the last decade to win a playoff game after losing by four points with 40 seconds left. With 39 seconds left in game four, Luka Doncic of the Mavericks put Dallas up 99-95 with a three-point jump shot from 26 feet. The Jazz marched back though with a three-point play of their own. Donovan Mitchell made a layup, and a free throw after Doncic was called for the foul. With 19 seconds left, Canadian Dwight Powell missed two free throws for Dallas before Rudy Gobert became the hero with a game-winning dunk. The Jazz won 100-99, and tied the series at two games apiece.

1) Bucks dominate Bulls in Chicago.

The Milwaukee Bucks have taken control of their series against the Chicago Bulls thanks to a pair of weekend wins. They clobbered the Bulls in game three on Friday 111-81, and then destroyed the Bulls in game four on Sunday, 119-95. It was the first time in franchise history, that the Bucks won two consecutive road games in the postseason by 20 points or more. The Bucks star in the two games was shooting guard Grayson Allen, who stepped up big time after Milwaukee lost Khris Middleton with a sprained medial collateral ligament. Allen made five of seven three-pointers in game three, and six of seven three-pointers in game four. According to ESPN, Allen became the first Bucks player in franchise history to have five three-pointers in back-to-back playoff games, and only the second NBA player ever to make five three pointers in back-to-back playoff games and have a 70% three-point percentage in each contest. The other is Danny Green. The Bucks lead the series three games to one.

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