Every morning throughout the NBA playoffs, we will make it simple for you to find the results and the biggest moments from the previous night’s games all in one place.
This is what you need to know from Saturday’s games:
GAME 4: BUCKS 120, HEAT 103
Series: Bucks sweep series 4-0
Giannis Antetokounmpo said the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t want to play with their food, and that’s exactly what happened. They finished their first-round meal by sweeping the battered and overmatched Miami Heat with their win on Saturday. The Heat put up a good fight in the first half of this game, and maybe looked like they might live to fight just one more day. But eventually, the Bucks broke through the dam and just kept scoring points. Bryn Forbes was big off the bench again, and he even finished the series outscoring Jimmy Butler over the four games. That’s probably not what Butler meant when he told people he was “stupidly locked-in” prior to the postseason commencing. Giannis finished with an easy 20-point, 15-assist, 12-rebound triple-double in the close-out game and the Bucks got to exorcise a couple of playoff demons from last year. Now they await the Brooklyn Nets, whenever they can finish their series with Boston.
- Nehm: Bucks ace their first postseason test in sweep of Heat, so what was learned?
- Navarro: Heat tip hat to Bucks after being swept, so what’s next for Miami?
GAME 4: BLAZERS 115, NUGGETS 95
Series: Tied 2-2
I’m not sure if we’re going to see the Denver Nuggets struggle to shoot to this degree again. The Portland Trail Blazers had one of the worst defenses in NBA history this season, but they managed to hold the Nuggets to 34.0 percent from the field and 29.5 percent from deep in Game 4 to even up the series. The Blazers just found that extra offensive gear, and they blitzed Denver throughout the game. Blazers turned it into a laugher in the third quarter. I’ve been worried about the non-Jusuf Nurkic minutes for Portland in this series. When he’s not on the floor, the Blazers just can’t compete with Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets. But Nurkic was +32 in the box score this game, and he also scored more points (17) than Jokic (16) for the entire game. That’s probably not replicable, but it worked enough for Portland in this game. Norman Powell led everybody with 29 points, and the Blazers got away with a game in which Damian Lillard shot just 1-of-10 from the field on his way to 10 points. It was the perfect storm for the Blazers and a perfect stool storm for the Nuggets. They head back to Denver with the series tied, now in a best-of-three.
- Quick: Blazers’ Game 4 is the Nurk & Norm show as Portland beats Nuggets behind season-changing duo
- Kosmider: Nuggets must examine effort after Game 4 blowout and get Michael Porter Jr. going
GAME 3: SIXERS 132, WIZARDS 103
Series: Sixers lead 3-0
It’s a 1-seed beating an 8-seed in the manner in which you expect. The Philadelphia 76ers are far better than whatever the Washington Wizards can muster. Russell Westbrook is trying to fight through pain in his body and Orville Redenbacher in his jersey, and he did an admirable job. Westbrook and Bradley Beal combined for 51 points in the game, but Joel Embiid scored 36 points in 28 minutes, as he just dominated everything the Wizards threw at him. Understandably, Washington is overmatched in this matchup, and there’s only so much they can do to hope to put pressure on Philadelphia. But allowing 58.6 percent from the field and 51.5 percent from deep isn’t going to accomplish that. Westbrook got another playoff triple-double, at least? That’s something!
- Hoffman: Joel Embiid cruises to playoff career-high 36 points as 76ers take commanding lead in series
- Katz: Wizards’ lack of size looms large in blowout loss as season is pushed to the brink
- Aldridge: Even with more Wizards fans returning — one game and a few thousand masks at a time — 76ers still rule
GAME 3: JAZZ 121, GRIZZLIES 111
Series: Jazz lead 2-1
Two games in this series with Donovan Mitchell playing for the Utah Jazz, two wins. The Jazz took down the Memphis Grizzlies, building a double-digit lead by jumping all over them in the first quarter of this game, then maintaining and weathering the storm the rest of the night. Mitchell led the way with 29 points for the Jazz, and Mike Conley added 27 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds against his former Grizzlies teammates. Jonas Valanciunas tried to have a big second half to counteract what Rudy Gobert was doing all night long for the Jazz. Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks tried to put up big efforts to lead Memphis to a home victory. There was just never enough momentum for the Grizzlies to take control of the game and threaten the No. 1 seed in the West. The Grizzlies got outscored by 18 points at the 3-point line and 10 points at the free throw line. That’s just too many points for the young Grizz to neutralize by taking shots within the arc.
- Jones: Jazz win Game 3 with stretches of dominance from Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert
- Robbins: Grizzlies’ lesson from Game 3: Focus and attention to detail matter against the Jazz
Sunday’s schedule
Knicks at Hawks, ATL leads 2-1. (1:00 p.m. ET; ABC)
- Can the Knicks find a way to limit Hawks’ Trae Young, or has he become too skilled to contain?
- Trae Young’s star is growing and is showing no signs of slowing down soon
- Knicks had systemic failure in Game 3 loss to Hawks, but here is what they must fix to recover in series
Suns at Lakers, LAL leads 2-1. (3:30 p.m. ET; ABC)
- The Lakers are trending in the right direction at the right time, but there’s still room for improvement
- Chris Paul’s shoulder and Jae Crowder’s jumper must improve for the Suns to save their season
Nets at Celtics, BKN leads 2-1. (7:00 p.m. ET; TNT)
- Jayson Tatum went on the attack in another 50-point outburst: ‘Sometimes nights like these are needed’
- Nets hit first roadblocks of postseason in Game 3: Jeers and missed shots for Kyrie Irving and a faltering defense
Clippers at Mavericks, DAL leads 2-1. (9:30 p.m. ET; TNT)
- After climbing out of a 19-point hole in Game 3, Clippers show that they aren’t done yet
- Kristaps Porzingis and Mavs defense equally culpable for poor showing in Game 3 loss to Clippers
(Photo: Sam Navarro/USA Today Sports)
