The Los Angeles Clippers advanced, the Toronto Raptors crashed, and the Denver Nuggets forced a penultimate game in NBA playoff games Sunday in Orlando.
Clippers eliminate Mavs
The Clippers sent the Dallas Mavericks back to Texas with a 111-97 victory in Game 6.
Kawhi Leonard had 33 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and five steals for the Clippers who wrapped up the series 4-2.
Ivica Zubac scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Paul George added 15 points, nine boards and seven assists for the Clippers who advanced to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs and play the winner of the Utah Jazz-Denver Nuggets series.
Luka Doncic’s season with the Mavericks ended with 38 points, nine assists, and nine rebounds. Dorian Finney-Smith added 16 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. chipped in 10.
Dallas rallied and pulled to within 88-82 with 9:28 left in the fourth but Los Angeles regrouped and pulled away.
The Mavericks had been hampered by the absence of Kristaps Porzingis who is out with an injured knee.
Doncic-Morris beef Part II
Doncic was once again put in danger when Clippers forward Marcus Morris Sr. slapped him on the head as he was driving to the basket late in the first quarter.
Morris Sr. was whistled for Flagrant 2 foul and was promptly ejected.
Doncic and Morris had been at each other’s throat in the series. In Game 5, Morris purportedly stepped on Doncic’s ankle while he was driving to the hoop.
Morris Sr. is expected to be find a pretty penny by the league.
Thunder's Schroder, Rockets Tucker fined $25K each
The NBA has fined Dennis Schroder of the Oklahoma City Thunder and P.J. Tucker of the Houston Rockets $25,000 each after their on-court confrontation in Game 5 of their series.
Schroder was fined "for making contact to the groin area" of Tucker and while the latter was penalized for "approaching Schroder and making contact with him in escalation of the altercation."
The confrontation happened in the third quarter. Both players were ejected.
Schroder denied intentionally hitting Tucker.
Celtics rout Raptors
The Toronto Raptors had a reality check as they were upended by the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart had 21 points each in the Celtics’ 112-94 victory over the defending champions.
Kemba Walker chipped in 18 points and 10 assists, Jaylen Brown had 17, Daniel Theis scored 13 points and collared 15 rebounds for the Celtics in a balanced attack.
''Marcus today was unbelievable on both ends,'' Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. ''All our guys played with great purpose, great enthusiasm. We just have to clean some stuff up.''
''We just need to follow the game plan and play with purpose and compete and that's what we did,'' Tatum said. ''They are not going to give up. Every game is going to be a dogfight.''
Kyle Lowry scored 17 points despite a sore left ankle for the Raptors who had a bad shooting night – 31-of-84 from the floor and 10-of-40 from three-point range which was the most three-point misses ever by Toronto in a playoff contest.
''We just didn't play well enough to win,'' said Lowry. ''We've got to do our coverages harder, execute better.''
Nuggets' Murray drops 50 to force Game 7 vs. Jazz
Jamal Murray scored 50 points to lead the Denver Nuggets past the Utah Jazz 119-107 and set up the first do-or-die Game 7 in the bubble.
Donovan Mitchell had an explosive night anew and score 50 points, but it was not enough to stop Denver from taking Game 6 and extending the series.
Murray and Mitchell have been hot and they have two 50-point games each in the series.
Should the Nuggets win Game 7, they will become the 12th team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win a series.
The last team to do this was the Cleveland Cavaliers featuring LeBron James in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Bronny now a pro-gamer, joins FaZe Clan
If you are fan of Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone, you might be able to test the mettle of LeBron James Jr.
The 15-year-old son of LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers has turned pro in video games, joining professional esports organization FaZe Clan.
He will be streaming Fortnite and Call of Duty under the handle “FaZe Bronny.”
Bronny – LeBron Jr.’s nickname – is an online celebrity, with 4.3 million TikTok followers. James Jr. who could turn pro in 2023 and play alongside his father also has 300,000 followers on streaming platform Twitch.
Terms of his deal were not disclosed.