NBA Playoffs: Toronto Raptors vs. Milwaukee Bucks Game 4 and the resilient effort of Kawhi Leornard

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The Toronto Raptors have defended their home court and evened the Eastern Conference finals at 2-2. After an ugly Game 3 win, they came out and delivered one of their best performances of the postseason in Game 4, taking down the Milwaukee Bucks, 120-102.

Giannis Antetokounmpo got off to a great start after his terrible night in Game 3, scoring 11 points in the first quarter alone. But Kyle Lowry was just as hot early on, and was key in helping the Raptors withstand the Bucks’ initial burst. In the second quarter, the Raptors put Kawhi Leonard on Giannis which slowed down the Greek Freak, and on the other end they started carving up the Bucks’ defense. They controlled the frame and opened up a double-digit lead at the break.

The second half followed in similar fashion, save for a brief surge by the Bucks in the third quarter to cut the deficit down to six points. Kawhi Leonard and Co. were ready with a response, though, and soon regained control of the game. They took a 13-point lead into the fourth quarter, and were never challenged. A banked-in 3-pointer from Fred VanVleet that turned into a four-point play after Giannis fouled Serge Ibaka while battling for the rebound put the Raptors up by 18 and effectively ended the game.

Leonard put together a gutsy performance while still battling some sort of leg injury, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while playing excellent defense. Lowry had a strong game as well, going for 25 points, five rebounds and six assists. Meanwhile, Ibaka, VanVleet and Norman Powell combined for 48 points off the bench. For the Bucks, Khris Middleton led the way with 30 points.

The Toronto Raptors look to take home court advantage in Game 5 on Thursday.

NBA Playoffs: Golden State Warriors vs. Portland Trailblazers game 4 as the Warriors advance to the NBA Finals.

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The Golden State Warriors have done it again.

The defending champions rallied for a third straight game to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 119-117 in overtime in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, and will advance to their fifth straight NBA Finals.

The Warriors came back from 17 down in Game 4 — the third consecutive game they’ve trailed by as many points and overcame such a deficit — to sweep the Blazers.

Stephen Curry and Draymond Green both finished with triple-doubles, the first teammates to ever do so in a playoff game. Curry finished with 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists while Green concluded the game with a stat line of 18 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.

The Warriors are just the second franchise to advance to five consecutive NBA Finals and the first in 53 years to do so. The 2019 Finals will begin on May 30.

NBA Playoffs: Toronto Raptors vs. Milwaukee Bucks Game 3 and the thrilling double overtime finish!

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While it’s true that the Raptors received some nice performances from their supporting cast, it was Kawhi Leonard — and nobody else — that willed them to this Game 3 victory. He scored 36 points — eight in the second overtime alone — and led Toronto to its first victory in this series despite the fact that both Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell fouled out during regulation.

Powell contributed with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field before he exited the game with 1:06 remaining in the fourth quarter. And as inconsistent as Lowry has been throughout the playoffs, he finished with a game-leading +15 plus/minus rating.

Leonard was there to take all of the big shots in the closing minutes of the fourth and both periods of overtime — like a lead man is supposed to do.

Missed shots, turnovers and fouls were the key story through most of the game, as neither team played particularly well. The Raptors played a bit better, though, and built up a double-digit lead that they carried into the early part of the third quarter. But Toronto never seemed in full control of the action, and because they couldn’t pull away, Milwaukee started to work its way back into the game.

Leonard was immense for the Raptors, scoring 36 points and playing 52 out of 58 minutes. The Toronto Raptors concluded with a 118-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in double overtime. The series now stands 2-1 in favor of Milwaukee.

NBA Playoffs: Golden State Warriors vs. Portland Trailblazers game 2 and the late game heroics of Steph Curry.

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Not Kevin Durant’s continued absence nor a 15-point halftime deficit could stop the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night, as the champs rallied from as far back as 17 down to beat the Blazers 114-111 to take a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference finals.

This is a gut-wrenching loss for the Blazers, who did just about everything right — including hitting 18 threes on 46-percent shooting from the arc. It was right there for them, and they just couldn’t close it out. As Golden State went on one of its patented third-quarter runs, it was the usual suspects — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green — taking control. All three were terrific for the Warriors.

Durant will miss at least the next two games of the series as he won’t travel with the team to Portland for Games 3 and 4, but so far, the Warriors have handled their business without him. On the other side of the floor, Dame Lillard paced Portland with 23 points and 10 assists, while CJ McCollum added 22 points and five assists of his own. Steph’s brother, Seth, added 16 points off the bench for Portland.

A lot of things happened in this game that are worth examining, but at the end of the day, the Blazers had a 15-point halftime lead and led by as many as 17 in the second half, and they couldn’t get it done. With no Kevin Durant and a lead like that, you have to find a way to steal that game.

The Portland Trail Blazers hope to build on an encouraging performance in a narrow Game 2 defeat in Oakland when they host the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. Tipoff from the Moda Center is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.

NBA Playoffs: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Toronto Raptors Game 1 and the emergence of Brook Lopez

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Whenever you think of the Bucks winning a game, you assume that it’s Giannis Antetokounmpo who leads them to victory. Except that was not the case in Milwaukee’s 108-100 win in Game 1 of the conference finals.

The true MVP of this game was none other than Brook Lopez, the former NBA All-Star center who had supposedly peaked years ago with the Brooklyn Nets.

After the first half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Toronto Raptors held a 59-51 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks and were looking sharp. Things changed quite a bit after the break as the Bucks overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat the Raptors 108-100 and take a 1-0 series lead.

The Bucks trailed for the majority of the game but they turned on a switch with just under 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. They rode their dominance on the offensive glass — 15 to the Raptors’ eight — and a career-high playoff performance by Brook Lopez (29 points and 11 rebounds) to win their first conference finals game since June 1, 2001.

The Raptors received a 30-point performance from Kyle Lowry on 10-of-15 from the field, but the rest of the team struggled from the field as Toronto converted on just 37.0 percent of their shots. Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, but did so on just 10-of-26 shooting from the field.

Game 2 will be on Friday, May 17, and 8:30 PM as the Toronto Raptors look to even the series at one game apiece.

NBA Playoffs: Golden State Warriors vs. Portland Trailblazers and the absence of Kevin Durant

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In the continued absence of Kevin Durant, The Golden State Warriors cruised past the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, taking a 1-0 series lead with a 116-94 win.

The Blazers hung around for much of the first half, but Steph Curry drained two 3-pointers in the last minute to boost the Warriors’ advantage to nine, and that was the key turning point. The Warriors took that momentum into the third quarter and soon had their lead up to 17 points after another Curry 3 in the middle of the third.

Though the Blazers continued to hang around and make things interesting into the fourth quarter, the game was never in doubt. While the final score makes the game look a bit more lopsided than it really was, the Warriors were never in danger of losing this one after their third-quarter burst. They were in cruise control from that point on.

Steph Curry continued the momentum of his second-half outburst to close out the Rockets in Game 6 with 36 points on nine 3-pointers in Game 1 vs. Portland. Curry was aggressive from the start, but a lot of the blame has to go to the Blazers, whose pick-and-roll coverage was lackluster.

Damien Lillard and Cj McCollum combined for 36 points which was equal to the amount of Steph Curry. If this trend continues it will not bode well for the Blazers who pride themselves in their offensive back-court. If they want to make this a more competitive series they need more production from their two guards.

Game 2 is on Thursday, May 16, at 9 p.m. as Kevin Durant will still be out with a right calf strain.

NBA Playoffs: Portland Trailblazers vs. Denver Nuggets Game 7 and the closing of an exciting series.

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The Portland Trail Blazers have advanced to the Western Conference finals, thanks to a 100-96 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of their second-round series. This will be Portland’s first WCF appearance since 2000.

Early on, it appeared the Nuggets were going to run the Trail Blazers out of the gym. They were up by 12 at the end of the first quarter, and extended that lead to 17 points in the second. But the Blazers used a nice run at the end of the half to cut the deficit to nine points. It not only made things more manageable, but gave them plenty of positive momentum.

They continued their comeback in the third quarter, getting right back into the game behind CJ McCollum, who was fantastic all night. When McCollum hit a jumper late in the quarter, it gave the Blazers their first lead of the game.

From there, the fourth quarter was a wild, back-and-forth affair as the two teams traded big baskets time and again. In the closing seconds, McCollum hit a step-back jumper to give the Blazers a three-point lead, and after some free throws on each side, that was the game.

The Portland Trailblazers will go on to face the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals in what should prove to be an exciting match-up.

NBA Playoffs: Toronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers game 7 and the thrilling game winning shot by Kawhi Leonard

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The Toronto Raptors defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, 92-90, in Game 7 of this second-round series on a thrilling last second buzzer-beating game winning shot by Kawhi Leonard.

Kawhi Leonard nailed the game-winner over Joel Embiid with time expiring, scoring 15 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Raptors to their second conference finals appearance in franchise history. Leonard scored 10 straight points for the Raptors late in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

The last time the Toronto Raptors played a Game 7, it was a 27-point blowout over the Miami Heat in 2016 that sent the Raptors to their first conference finals berth in franchise history.

After a disheartening loss in Game 6 against the Philadelphia 76ers, the two teams engaged in a seesaw battle that included 10 lead changes and six ties leading up to the final seconds of the series.

The Raptors will now take on the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Raptors will surely need more of a balanced effort against a Milwaukee Bucks team that led the league in defensive rating during the regular season and is coming off a series clinching game 5 win against the Boston Celtics. It should prove to be a competitive and entertaining series.

NBA Playoffs: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Boston Celtics Game 5 and the closing of a series.

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The Milwaukee Bucks are advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in several years.

The top-ranked Bucks finished off the Boston Celtics in Game 5 on Wednesday night, 116-91, to wrap up their second-round playoff series. They’ll now move on to their first conference finals since 2001. Although Game 5 was an elimination game for the Celtics, it was one-sided almost from the beginning as Boston vastly struggled to shoot, converting on just 31.5 percent of its field-goal attempts.

Giannis Antetokounmpo posted 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while Kyrie Irving drastically struggled — again — on 6-of-17 shooting from the field while going 1-of-7 from 3-point range for 15 points.

It’ll be a long off-season for the Celtics as they await Irving’s free agency decision and figure out which direction they need to head into in order to take that next step into becoming a championship contender.

Noticeably, while the Celtics were technically still in the playoffs when Game 5 tipped off, the majority of the team had apparently already checked out after their Game 4 loss on Monday night.

The energy from this Celtics squad was lethargic from the beginning and, with the exception of Marcus Morris and Marcus Smart, everybody had packed it in.

Meanwhile, the Bucks will await the winner of the Philadelphia 76ers-Toronto Raptors series with Game 6 taking place on Thursday night.

NBA Playoffs: Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets Game 5 and the unfortunate injury of Kevin Durant

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The pivotal Game 5 match-up between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets followed decisive victories in Games 3 and 4, despite this adversity the Warriors were still able to pull out a Game 5 victory, defeating the Houston Rockets, 104-99.

Despite losing Kevin Durant for the entire fourth quarter due to a right calf strain, the Warriors rode Stephen Curry’s 20-point second half effort to hold off the Rockets’ surge to take a 3-2 series lead.

With the Warriors leading 102-99 in crunch time, Golden State nearly suffered a costly turnover before Kevon Looney recovered a loose ball and Klay Thompson then converted on a layup to close out the game for the Warriors.

Its still uncertain how severe Kevin Durant’s injury is but it is apparently a mild right calf strain that he suffered in third quarter of game 5 that will sideline him at least a couple games according to Warriors coach Steve Kerr which could prove to be a tremendous blow to their title hopes.

The implications of Durant’s injury extend beyond the playoffs. He will be the most sought-after free agent this summer if he chooses to opt out of his contract. Durant has won the Most Valuable Player Award for the league (2014) and the N.B.A. finals (2017, 2018). He went into Wednesday’s game averaging a team-high 35.4 points per game in the playoffs.