NBA playoff bubble tipped off Wednesday afternoon with a slate of Game 2s at the league’s Disney World campus in Florida. Action from the bubble will be updated here throughout the day." data-reactid="16">Day 3 of the NBA playoff bubble kicked off Wednesday afternoon with a Game 2 slate at the league’s Disney World campus in Florida. The bubble action will be updated here later in the day.
Toronto Raptors 104, Brooklyn Nets 99 (Raptors lead, 2-0)
Utah Jazz 124, Denver Nuggets 105 (series tied, 1-1)
Boston Celtics 128, Philadelphia 76ers 101 (Celtics lead, 2-0)
Dallas Mavericks 127, Los Angeles Clippers 114 (series drew 1-1)
Orlando Magic 122, Milwaukee Bucks 110
Miami Heat 113, Indiana Pacers 101
Houston Rockets 123, Oklahoma City Thunder 108
Portland Trail Blazers 100, Los Angeles Lakers 93
The Mavericks take control early for even the series
After the roller coaster of Game 1, the Dallas Mavericks have recovered hard.
Dallas led the entire race Wednesday night and drew the opening round playoff series with the Clippers with a 127-114 win at Walt Disney World.
While Kawhi Leonard scored an impressive 35-point, 10-rebound double, Dallas quickly took a 17-point lead in the second quarter and never looked back. They survived a late Clippers run in the first half and then regained the double-digit lead in the fourth quarter en route to their 13-point win.
NBA history. Kristaps Porzingis, who was ejected from Game 1, added 23 points and seven rebounds. " data-reactid="31">The Mavericks’ bench was crucial to the victory, scoring a total of 47 points. Luka Doncic led the way with 28 points while shooting 4 of 7 from the field, which brought him a total of 70 points in his first two playoff games, the fastest to reach that milestone in NBA history. Kristaps Porzingis, who was sent off from Game 1, added 23 points and seven rebounds.
Lou Williams added 23 points off the bench for Los Angeles, and both Paul George and Marcus Morris finished with 14.
The Celtics run away from Sixers despite Embiid’s 34 points
After a back and forth in Game 1, the Boston Celtics had little trouble taking out the Philadelphia 76ers to take a 2-0 lead.
Despite a stronger effort than Joel Embiid (34 points on 11 on 21 shots, 10 rebounds), the Celtics had little trouble controlling the Sixers attack while Jayson Tatum (33 points), Kemba Walker (22) and Jaylen Brown ( 20) everything went to work.
Al Horford in particular was a no-show for the Sixers with just four points and two rebounds in 23 minutes against his old team.
Jazz picks up with a big win over the Nuggets
Donovan Mitchell missed 57 points on Wednesday. He didn’t need it.
NBA playoff history." data-reactid="49">The Utah Jazz achieved a 124-105 win over the Denver Nuggets behind a relatively pedestrian effort of 30 points and eight assists from Mitchell. The win drew the series 1-1 after Monday’s defeat to the Nuggets which saw Mitchell score the third-highest scoring line in NBA playoff history.
The Jazz went on a cruise on Wednesday, opening a double-digit lead in the second quarter thanks to a 20-6. They never looked back. Nuggets manager Mike Malone gave up the white flag with more than five minutes left in the quarter, putting starters Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray on the bench.
Utah was hot from the field and range, shooting 51.7% from the ground and 45.5% from behind the 3-point arc. Mitchell set the pace on 10/14 shots, including a 6/7 effort from 3 points away. Joe Ingles and Jordan Clarkson each linked in 3-point 4/9 attempts while Royce O’Neal scored 3/4.
Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. each scored 28 goals for Denver, but it wasn’t enough to keep up. The series resumes on Friday with Race 3.
Fred VanVleet leads the Raptors again in victory over the Nets
NBA playoff bubble, Wednesday threatened to tip off with another big upset. But the Toronto Raptors rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to secure a 104-99 win and a 2-0 series lead over the Brooklyn Nets." data-reactid="58">After Tuesday saw both No. 1 seeded heads drop in the NBA playoff bubble, Wednesday threatened to blow with another major upheaval. But the Toronto Raptors bounced back from a 10-point deficit in the second half to secure a 104-99 win and a 2-0 lead over the Brooklyn Nets.
Brooklyn led most of the first half and extended his lead to 63-53 early in the third quarter. But Fred VanVleet responded with a 10-2 personal to cut the deficit to 65-63 and lead the defending champions for the second straight game.
A game after leading Toronto with 30 points and 11 assists, VanVleet shed 24 points and 10 assists on Wednesday.
Kyle Lowry added 21 points and nine rebounds, including this and a rotation in the middle of the fourth quarter to extend Toronto’s lead to 91-85.
