Three more NBA teams joined the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat in the NBA Conference semifinals on Thursday. They were the Philadelphia 76ers, the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, who all won game six of their respective series.
In Toronto, the 76ers clobbered the Toronto Raptors 132-97. The game was extremely close at the half. The 76ers had a 62-61 lead after 24 minutes. However, in the third quarter, Philadelphia absolutely dominated, outscoring Toronto 37-17. The fourth quarter was much the same, as the Raptors went ice cold offensively and had no answers to stop the Philadelphia offensive attack. Three 76ers actually had triple doubles. Joel Embiid had 33 points and 10 rebounds. James Harden had 22 points and 15 assists, while Tobias Harris had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Philadelphia will now play Miami in round two.
In New Orleans/Phoenix series we discussed last week how Suns point guard Chris Paul needed to step up and be fantastic with the absence of Devin Booker. In game four, Paul was terrible, as he only scored four points. In game five Paul was better as he scored 22 points in a 112-97 Suns win. However on Thursday, Paul was sensational. In a 115-109 Phoenix win to close out the series, Paul made all 14 of his field goal attempts for 33 points overall.
Finally in Salt Lake City, the Mavericks beat the Jazz 98-96 to win the series four games to two. With the win, Dallas will face Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals. With the game tied at 94, and two minutes left, Jalen Brunson made a key three to put Dallas up 97-94. The game will forever be remembered for the miscues by Mike Conley of the Jazz. With one minute and 17 seconds left, Conley missed a three-point attempt, instead of driving through the paint where he could have got an easier field goal. Then with five seconds left, Conley had a costly turnover, which sealed the win for Dallas.
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