NBA Playoffs: Celtics eliminate Bucks; Warriors flatten Pelicans
METTA World Peace has spoken. The Philadelphia 76ers are going to be NBA champions and Ben Simmons “is the one”.
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Ben Simmons has a second round date with Boston after the Celtics crushed Milwaukee in game seven.
BOSTON improved its impressive history in game sevens by crushing Milwaukee 112-96 to advance to a second round series against Philadelphia.
The Celtics got huge games from Al Horford (13/17 for 26 points) and Terry Rozier (10/16 for 26 points) and never looked back after a 30-17 opening quarter.
Game one against the 76ers will be in Boston on Tuesday (AEST). But in the opinion of NBA champion Metta World Peace it’s just the next step in Philly’s march to the crown.
“I got Sixers winning the title,” World Peace tweeted on Sunday. “I think Ben Simmons is the one.”
I got @sixers winning the title ... I think @BenSimmons25 is the one. And obviously @JoelEmbiid . The team is really ready..
— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) April 28, 2018
People laughed when I said @StephenCurry30 will be mvp the year before he got it. And when I said @JoelEmbiid is top 5 in the league the year before
Celtics-Sixers will be a fascinating series. Boston has a lot of players they can throw at Ben Simmons (like they did vs. Giannis). Look forward to seeing how Boston defends Simmons in Game 1 (sagging vs. pressure). They alternated strategies during the regular season.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 29, 2018
Elsewhere, the Golden State Warriors sent a message to New Orleans — and the rest of the NBA — with a 123-101 thrashing that showed they’re ready to defend their title.
3pm
Golden State squash Pelicans
Kevin Durant had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Draymond Green dazzled all over the floor with his fourth career postseason triple-double, and the Golden State Warriors thoroughly overmatched the New Orleans Pelicans for a 123-101 win in Game 1 of their Western Conference semi-finals.
Green finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and two blocks and just with his hustle and energy helped the defending champions pull away with a superb, decisive second quarter.
Now, they likely get Stephen Curry back for Game 2 and all that he brings — even if in a limited role initially.
Anthony Davis had 21 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 10 in the first quarter before having a tougher time generating shots the rest of the way to finish 9 for 20. Jrue Holiday was held to 4-for-14 shooting and 11 points.
Golden State again played without two-time MVP Curry, who has been sidelined since March 23 with a sprained left knee. Coach Steve Kerr called it “very likely” Curry would play Game 2 in the best-of-seven series.
Klay Thompson, who led Golden State with 27 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the first half that made it 76-48.
But New Orleans ended the second on a 7-0 run and Darius Miller’s 73-foot heave at the halftime buzzer counted after review, getting the Pelicans within 76-55 at the break. They hit another buzzer-beater to end the third but it was way too late.
Rajon Rondo had nine points and dished out 11 assists for New Orleans.
But once Golden State got going in transition, Oracle Arena started rocking and the Pelicans couldn’t keep pace — with tempo being something the Warriors know is key this series. They opened the second with a 13-5 burst and were on their way.
Davis, who averaged 33 points, 12 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in a first-round sweep of Portland, made 5 of 7 shots in the opening period.
Green has been brilliant on the boards as Golden State keeps taking its defence up a level. He had games of 19 and 18 rebounds in the final two match-ups of a five-game series with San Antonio in the first round.
Nick Young started at forward for the Warriors while 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala remained in the starting line-up in place of Curry as Golden State won a franchise-record 13th straight postseason home game.
The Warriors swept the Pelicans in the only other playoff meeting between the franchises in the 2015 first round as Golden State went on to capture its first championship in 40 years.
— AP
12.30pm
Celtics send home Greek Freak
Al Horford and Terry Rozier scored 26 points apiece, and even Giannis Antetokounmpo tipped in a basket for the Celtics to help Boston beat Milwaukee 112-96 in Game 7 of their first-round series and eliminate the Bucks and the Greek Freak from the playoffs.
Horford had eight rebounds, Rozier had nine assists and Jayson Tatum added 20 points for the Celtics, who rode the home-court advantage to win all four games in Boston and advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals for the second straight year.
They will meet the Philadelphia 76ers, with Game 1 in Boston on Tuesday.
Khris Middleton scored 32, Eric Bledsoe had 23 and Antetokounmpo had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks. Milwaukee has advanced from the first round of the playoffs just once since 1989, losing nine straight playoff series since Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell brought George Karl to the Eastern Conference finals in 2001.
Playing in their NBA-record 31st Game 7, the Celtics improved to 20-4 at home and 23-8 overall in best-of-seven clinchers.
Tatum had nine points in the first, when the Celtics scored 15 straight points — including a tip-in by Antetokounmpo into the Boston hoop — and 20 of the last 22 to end the quarter with a 30-17 lead.
Milwaukee scored 11 in a row at the beginning of the second to make it a two-point game, but Boston answered with nine in a row to make it 41-30.
The Celtics led 50-42 at the half despite going 1-for-12 from 3-point range. Horford had 14 points and seven rebounds at the break, and Bledsoe had 12 points for the Bucks.
Milwaukee cut the deficit to three points early in the third but Boston scored 11 of the last 15 points in the quarter.
— AP
12pm
‘Melo rules out bench move
Carmelo Anthony isn’t interested in sticking around in Oklahoma City as a bench player for the Thunder.
A day after the Thunder were eliminated from the first round of the NBA playoffs, Anthony said during his exit interview on Saturday that such a role was out of the question.
“I’m not sacrificing (with) no bench role,” he said. “I think everybody knows I’ve sacrificed damn near everything, and was willing to sacrifice nearly everything for this situation to work out.” The 33-year-old forward spent significant time on the bench during the Thunder’s first-round loss to the Utah Jazz.
Anthony, who averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists for the season, can opt out of the final year of his contract, which is worth $28 million, and not return to the Thunder in 2018.
And he indicated he was mulling that option after a sometimes frustrating campaign that followed his trade from the New York Knicks on the eve of training camp.
Anthony waived his no-trade clause with the Knicks to make the move happen, with the Thunder hoping he would join established star Russell Westbrook and another OKC newcomer, Paul George, to form a Big Three that would see them challenge the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets in the Western Conference.
But Anthony said that with the trio joining forces so close to the start of the season “everything was just thrown together” and his role wasn’t properly defined.
— AFP
10am
Donovan Mitchell is the real deal
Although the league didn’t need much more proof, Donovan Mitchell gave it to us anyway. He’s the real deal.
In his first year as an NBA player Mitchell — who is Aussie Ben Simmons’ closest rival in the Rookie of the Year race — scored 38 points for the Jazz in Utah’s Game 6 win over Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday (AEST).
Although not a noted three-point shooter, when he gets on a hot streak he’s impossible to stop. Mitchell hit eight straight shots and scored 22 points in the third quarter alone.
“I was in a different mode. It was crazy,” Mitchell said after he’d led the charge against a star-studded Thunder outfit that boasted superstars Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.
“I don’t think words can really describe it.”
His 171 points through six playoff games are the third-best postseason start ever, behind NBA icons Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain.
“Sometimes the team needs a guy to take things on his shoulders,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said after the rookie’s transcendent Game 6.
Earlier this month Mitchell taunted Simmons by turning up to a game against Golden State wearing a hoodie designed to throw shade at the Sixers star.
“Rookie (rook-ee), noun,” the jumper read. “An athlete playing his or her first season as a member of a professional sports team.”
It was a dig at Simmons being classified as a rookie because he joined Philadelphia last season — but a foot injury prevented him from making his debut and he wore the 76ers colours for the first time this season.
Most are backing Simmons to win the Rookie of the Year gong but Mitchell’s doing everything he can to make it a close race.
Former Louisville coach Rick Pitino knows how special the young gun is.
“He’s a combination of confidence and humility you don’t see. It’s not an ego thing. He’s going to step on the floor and think he’s the best player, but be humble about it,” Pitino told the New York Post.
“There are very few guys like him in the NBA. … There’s so much substance, but a lot of sizzle as well.”
— with Brian Lewis, New York Post
Originally published as NBA Playoffs: Celtics eliminate Bucks; Warriors flatten Pelicans
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