Fast and Furious
The Los Angeles Lakers opened up a record-tying 35-9 lead in the first quarter on their way to a 111-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 3 of their Western Conference First Round series. The Lakers lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 in Los Angeles on Monday.
The Lakers’ 26-point lead at the end of the first quarter matched the largest lead after the opening period of a playoff game in NBA history:
26 — Milwaukee Bucks vs. Philadelphia 76ers (March 30, 1970)
26 — Bucks vs. Miami Heat (May 24, 2021)
26 — Los Angeles Lakers vs. Memphis Grizzlies (April 22, 2023)
25 — Miami Heat vs. Orlando Magic (April 24, 1997)
The Grizzlies’ nine first-quarter points are the fewest scored by any team in an opening period this season, regular season or postseason. The last team to score nine or fewer points in the first quarter of a playoff game was the Boston Celtics with seven points on April 19, 2016. The Grizzlies shot just 3-25 from the field in the quarter, including 1-13 from 3-point range. They also committed six turnovers which led to 10 Laker points.
The Lakers’ Anthony Davis scored a team-high 31 points, shooting 11-24 from the field and 8-10 from the free throw. Davis also produced game highs of 17 rebounds, three blocks (tied), and two steals (tied).
Davis has compiled 66 points, 38 rebounds, and 15 blocks over the first three games of the series. The last player to record at least 60 points, 30 rebounds, and 15 blocks over a three-game playoff span was Tim Duncan in 2007. The last player to reach those marks through the first three games of a postseason was also Duncan, in 2002.
Teammate LeBron James scored 25 points, making 10 of his 20 attempts from the field and five of his seven free throws. James also contributed nine rebounds and five assists. He joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in NBA history age 38 years or older to record at least three straight 20-point games in the playoffs.
The Grizzlies’ Ja Morant scored a game-high 45 points in the loss, 24 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Morant shot 13-26 from the field — including 6-10 from 3-point range — and made 13 of his 14 free throws. Morant is the only player in franchise history to record a 40-point game in the postseason, having now done so three times. Morant has actually scored at least 45 points in each of those games. The only other player in NBA history to record three 45-point games in the playoffs before turning 24 years old is James.
Morant also dished out a game-high 13 assists and hauled in nine rebounds. He’s just the seventh player in NBA history to record at least 45 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds in a playoff game:
Michael Jordan (May 13, 1990)
Russell Westbrook (April 19, 2017)
Damian Lillard (June 1, 2021)
Luka Doncic (June 6, 2021)
Kevin Durant (June 15, 2021)
Trae Young (June 23, 2021)
Ja Morant (April 22, 2023)
Durant, Booker Shine
Kevin Durant (31 points) and Devin Booker (30) combined for 61 points as the Phoenix Suns pulled away in the fourth quarter of a 112-100 victory over the LA Clippers in Game 4 of their Western Conference First Round series. The Suns will take a 3-1 series lead back to Phoenix for Game 5 on Tuesday.
Durant shot 9-17 from the floor — including 3-4 from 3-point range — and missed just one of his 11 free throws. It’s the 51st time he’s scored at least 30 points on 50% shooting from the field in a playoff game, breaking a tie with Jerry West for the fifth-most such games in NBA history:
81 — LeBron James
70 — Michael Jordan
64 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
54 — Shaquille O’Neal
51 — Kevin Durant
50 — Jerry West
Durant also contributed 11 rebounds and six assists. The 34-year-old Durant is the oldest player in NBA history to record at least 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists in each of his first four games of a postseason.
Booker shot 10-21 from the field — including 3-6 from 3-point range — and made seven of his eight free throw attempts. Booker added nine rebounds, seven assists, and three steals.
Durant and Booker became just the third duo in NBA history to score at least 25 points apiece in each of the first four games of a postseason series (a total of four instances):
Elgin Baylor & Jerry West (1962 WDF)
Baylor & West (1968 WDF)
Shaquille O’Neal & Kobe Bryant (2003 WC1)
Kevin Durant & Devin Booker (2023 WC1)
Suns point guard Chris Paul scored 19 points and tallied game highs of nine assists, three steals (tied), and three blocks. It’s the first time Paul has recorded at least three steals and three blocks in a game in his career, a total of 1,360 regular season plus postseason games.
The Clippers’ Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 37 points in the loss. Westbrook shot 17-29 from the field with three 3-pointers made, but did not attempt a free throw. It’s the most points he’s scored in any game, regular season or postseason, without getting to the foul line. Westbrook’s previous high in a game in which he did not attempt a free throw was 22 on March 19, 2022.
Sixers Sweep Nets
Despite the absence of MVP finalist Joel Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 96-88, sweeping their Eastern Conference First Round series 4-0. It’s the franchise’s first sweep of a seven-game series since the 1985 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Sixers will now sit back and wait to face either the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics or No. 7 seed Atlanta Hawks.
The Nets were swept from the playoffs for the second consecutive season. They’ve lost their last 10 postseason games dating back to the 2021 NBA Playoffs. It’s the second time in franchise history they’ve dropped 10 straight playoff games, the first such streak stretching from 1984 to 1992. The only other franchise in NBA history with multiple losing streaks of 10 or more games in the postseason is the Portland Trail Blazers.
Tobias Harris scored a game-high 25 points on 11-19 shooting from the field to lead the Sixers. He also tied for game-high honors with 12 rebounds. Harris averaged 20.3 PPG and 8.8 RPG for the series, with shooting percentages of 56.7% from the field, 57.1% from 3-point range, and 100% from the free throw line.
Sixers center Paul Reed — starting in place of the injured Embiid — recorded a double-double, scoring 10 points and hauling in 15 rebounds. It’s the most rebounds Reed has recorded in any game, regular season or postseason.
Teammate James Harden had 17 points, a game-high 11 assists, and eight rebounds, but made just four of his 18 attempts from the field. Harden has a field goal percentage of just 38.7% in his 16 playoff games with the Sixers.
The Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie recorded team highs of 20 points and six assists in the loss. Dinwiddie shot 7-13 from the field — including 3-6 from 3-point range — and made three of his four free throws.
Nets center Nic Claxton scored 19 points on 8-10 shooting from the field. He also recorded game highs of 12 rebounds (tied) and four blocks.
Heat Rout Bucks
Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 30 points as the Miami Heat routed the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks 121-99 to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference First Round series. Game 4 will be held in Miami on Monday.
Butler played just 28 minutes before leaving the game in the third quarter with a sore glute. Butler shot 12-19 from the field, hitting all four of his 3-pointers. He scored 19 points in the first quarter, which the Heat ended on a 14-0 run. The Heat scored the first five points of the second quarter to stretch the run to 19 straight points.
The Heat’s Duncan Robinson celebrated his birthday in style, coming off the bench to score 20 points in 24 minutes of action. Robinson made seven of his nine shots from the floor, including five of his six 3-point attempts. It’s the eighth time Robinson has made at least five 3-pointers in a playoff game, the most such games in franchise history.
The Heat had an efficient night, shooting 45-85 from the field (53.6%) — including 16-33 from 3-point range (48.5%) — and 15-17 from the free throw line (88.2%). They’ve recorded an effective field goal percentage of at least 60% in each of the first three games of the series, the longest such postseason streak in franchise history.
The Bucks’ Khris Middleton scored a team-high 23 points in the loss, shooting 8-14 from the field with three 3-pointers made. He also dished out a game-high six assists, snagged five rebounds, and recorded two steals.