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In this episode, Santiago and Hal discuss #Suns evening out the series against #Nuggets, and #76ers against Celtics.
Contributors
Santiago Leon – @sleon
Hal Phillips – @mandarinhal
Nuggets 124 Suns 129
The Phoenix Suns are right back in their NBA Playoffs series with the Denver Nuggets after a 129-124 win in Game 4 at Footprint Center on Sunday, evening the Western Conference semifinal matchup at two games each.
Nikola Jokic had 53 points for the Nuggets, on 20-for-30 shooting, but Phoenix was able to outscore the Nuggets behind Devin Booker and Kevin Durant’s 36 points each, along with an inspired effort from the Suns’ bench.
Durant was 11-for-19 from the field, while Booker was 14-for-18.
Landry Shamet led Phoenix’s bench with 19 points, including four big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Terrence Ross and Jock Landale each had eight points off the bench for the Suns, while T.J. Warren had five, including two big free throws late.
Jamal Murray added 28 points for the Nuggets. Denver only got 11 points off the bench in Game 4.
Both teams shot the ball extremely well, with Phoenix going 46-for-81 from the field and Denver ending up 50-for-89.
It’s now a best-of-3 series, but the Suns will have to win one game in Denver to win the series.
Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday at Ball Arena in Denver.
Celtics 116 76ers 115
James Harden scored 42 points including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18.2 seconds left in overtime, securing a 116-115 76ers win to tie the Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-2.
Jaylen Brown said his poor defensive read when he ditched Harden to try and double Joel Embiid was a pivotal moment.
The Celtics did almost all they could to snuff out that chance. Smart and Jayson Tatum keyed a Celtics rally from 15 points down with 2 minutes left in the third quarter.
Boston’s fun began in the fourth when Smart and Brown buried consecutive 3-pointers and Tatum attacked the rim for a bucket that wiped out an eight-point hole in 90 seconds. Al Horford put them ahead 98-90 — on a possession that started on the other end when Tyrese Maxey had his shot blocked — and shimmied for the crowd as boos rained on him.
Embiid, the NBA MVP who had 34 points and 13 rebounds, kept his composure and eventually got to the line to sink two free throws with 59 seconds left and the season in the balance.
Tatum — who struggled to score early but finished with 24 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and four blocks — hit a step-back 3 for a 115-113 lead. Harden made sure Boston would never challenge again.
Brown scored 23 points and Smart had 21.
Brown, though, took only three shots in the fourth quarter and none in OT when the Celtics needed him.
Harden did this already when he played in Game 1 like he was still the MVP in Houston and dropped 45 points to spur the upset road victory. Then, his game disappeared and he played two of the worst games of his career.
Harden’s 5-for-28 combined shooting in Games 2 and 3 was worst effort for him over any two-game span in his career — regular season or playoffs.
76ers
Joel Embiid 34pts
Tyrese Maxey (G) 14 pts
Celtics
Jayson Tatum 24pts
Jaylen Brown 23 pts
Al Horfod – 10 pts
Marcus Smart – 21 points
Malcome Brodgdon – 19pts
Derrick White -12 pts
Saturday
NYK 86 MIA 105
GS 97 LAL 127
PREDICTIONS
NYK at MIA -7:30pm
HP: MIA
GS at LAL – 10pm ET
HP: GSW
MCI at RMAHP: MCI
Santiago Leon is the Founder and CEO of the Sports Cast. He covers NFL, NBA, and world soccer. He’s also founder of sleon productions, which he specializes in technology and serves clients with solutions to make their business grow.