The first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs are in full swing. Here are five top storylines for the weekend that was.
5) Minnesota Timberwolves avoid elimination.
On Sunday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 114-108 in overtime to avoid beings swept in their first round playoff series. Anthony Edwards of Atlanta, Georgia led Minnesota with 34 points. According to ESPN, this was Edwards’s fifth 30-point playoff game of his NBA career. Among players 21 years of age or younger, only LeBron James had more with eight.
4) Warriors continue to win at home.
Despite an awful record away from home (11 wins and 32 losses including playoffs), the Warriors are great in San Francisco where they have a home record of 35 wins and eight losses in 2022-23. On Sunday, the Warriors squeaked out a 126-125 win over the Sacramento Kings to tie their series at two.
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3) Bucks need Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee was able to win game two of their series against Miami on Wednesday by a score of 138-122, however on Saturday, the Bucks struggled mightily as a whole in their 121-99 loss to the Heat in game three of their series as Miami took a 2-1 series lead. The Heat made 12 first-half three-pointers, the most three-pointers the Heat have ever scored in one half of a playoff game. Milwaukee will have 2020 NBA Finals MVP and two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo back in their lineup for game four according to Callie Lawson-Freeman of Yahoo! Sports after missing the last two games with a back injury. The Bucks clearly need their star from Athens, Greece to win the series.
2) Remarkable Knicks defense.
New York’s defense is a major reason why they are leading the Cleveland Cavaliers three games to one. In game three on Friday, the Cavaliers only scored 79 points in a 99-79 loss to the Knicks. To put the 79 points into perspective, that was the fewest number of points any team has scored in any game all season long (regular season or playoffs). Cleveland had 20 turnovers and made only 10 free throws.
1) 76ers off to round two.
Philadelphia is the first team from the first round to advance to the second round of the postseason. On Saturday, the 76ers beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-88 to win the series four games to none. In the fourth game, forward Tobias Harris of Islip, New York had an impressive double double, as he had 25 points and 12 rebounds. This was eye-opening when you consider the fact that Joel Embiid of the 76ers was out with a knee sprain.
