May 12 Game Recaps

May 12 Game Recaps

Houdini Harden (dis)appears in yet another big game, leaving Miami with another conference finals berth

After an extremely lackluster performance from Embiid, Harden, and the rest of the 76ers on Tuesday night, they met up with the Heat down 3-2 in Philadelphia with the goal of forcing a game 7 back in south beach. Then the opening tip happens, and the world is reminded of why the Miami Heat are a 1 seed. Jimmy Butler and company came out of the gate focused and hungry, quickly jumping out to a 7-0 lead forcing turnovers and bad shots for the Sixers early. Butler came out strong, shooting often early, attempting to put his stamp on the game and put the Sixers in a deadly chokehold. The Sixers were pushing the pace at first, knowing how hard it is to score on the stifling halfcourt Miami defense. This strategy worked during the first part of the first quarter, but once Erik Spoelstra noticed this he made the adjustment to send players back to limit transition and from then on the Sixers weren’t able to get much going from fastbreaks. Matisse Thybulle replaced Danny Green who went down with in an injury in the first few minutes, and Thybulle had a couple of strong possessions midway through the first, getting an and-1 dunk off a cut on an inbounds play and blocking a shot from behind on defense, but after that was largely a non-factor. Embiid was clearly not himself, finishing with just 20 points and continually settling for outside jumpers instead of trying to force his way inside. Herro played well in the first, scoring 10 in the half, and was aggressive, not just shooting jumpers but finding lanes to the hoop and scoring inside. Duncan also got some run in the first half, but was played off the floor almost immediately as the Sixers and specifically Tyrese Maxey attacked him on defense. Harden had a good finish to the second quarter, hitting a couple three’s and seeming aggressive near the end. Overall it was a tightly contested first half, and wound up being a 49-48 Heat lead heading into the third. Finally, after a halftime of talk and adjustments, the Heat broke through in the third, starting the quarter on a 9-2 run. They picked up the energy and the intensity coming out of the half and Sixers from then on just looked completely unable to match it. Maxey seemed to be one of the only Sixers players to play with high energy in the second half, and even then he showed his age in spots, turning it over or making the wrong decision on a play. It got so bad for the Sixers Shake Milton became their best player, scoring 15 in the half and looking like the only reliable option on the Sixers offense. The effort coming from the home team in an elimination game was simply paltry, giving up 8 offensive rebounds in the second half, most off of plays the Sixers could have grabbed the ball if just for a better effort to do so. Butler carried the Heat home, scoring 9 points, grabbing 4 boards, and dishing out 4 assists in the final frame, and despite a late fake comeback near the end, the outcome of this game was never really in doubt, wrapping up with a final score of 99-90. James Harden has to be mentioned, going scoreless on 2 shots with 3 turnovers and a -13 plus minus in the final half. He was simply a non-factor out there, not being aggressive, only taking his two shots when they were gifted to him by the Heat, and gave little effort on defense or when going for rebounds. For all intents and purposes he seemed really checked out and uninterested in doing anything with the ball in his hands. For what seems like the millionth time, he failed to show up in the biggest game of the season. Now it’s time for Darryl Morey to figure out his contract situation, as he’s eligible for a max contract this upcoming offseason, but with the steep decline Harden has been on, it has the potential to look really really bad on the back end when Harden could possibly be making 60 million dollars in a season. The Heat meanwhile move on, and will face the winner of the Celtics and Bucks series with game 1 happening in South Beach next week.

POTG: Jimmy Butler - 32 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk on 13-29 fg and 2-6 3pt fg

Mavericks role players show up yet again at home, shifting the series back to Phoenix for a game 7

The home teams had won every game in this series, and the Mavericks looked to continue that trend in order to try and force the first game 7 of the playoffs back in Phoenix. Devin Booker came out aggressive and firing, scoring 6 points in the first 5:20 of the game, but after a quick start quickly trailed off and heavily struggled for the rest of the game. Luke Doncic, meanwhile, was exactly the opposite. With defensive player of the year candidate Mikal Bridges on him early, he started slowly the first few minutes, but was able to get going after running some plays to get him favorable switches. Notably he was targeting on Chris Paul, who he used his size to bully his way inside and get shots in the paint, and Deandre Ayton who he tried to hunt and isolate on all night long. The Mavericks were able to get plenty of deflections, playing with an impressive defensive tenacity, and this led to plenty of turnovers and transition opportunities for the Mavericks. Even Luka, who loves playing at a slow pace, was taking the chances when he got them. This had a noticeable effect on the Suns, who were never able to really get into their offense and get going, constantly under tight defensive pressure. Dinwiddie finally decided to wake up and show himself, scoring 15 points on 5 threes and providing a good scoring spark when they needed one. Jalen Brunson did a good job of carrying the offensive load when Luka wasn’t out there, finishing with 18 points and doing a good job of knowing when he needed to score and when he needed to defer. Ayton had a really solid game all-around, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and was the Suns best player for the night. He was the only one who was really able to get going, and the Suns did a good job of running plays for him and getting him favorable switches. Outside of Ayton, however, it was a rough night all around for the rest of his crew. They were missing open looks, shots that they would usually make, and coming out of the break down by 15 they needed a strong start to the third to get back into the game to close the series out. Unfortunately for them, it simply was not their night. Luka kept attacking mismatches, and the Mavericks started the third by extending their lead. The Suns had chances to get themselves back into the game here and there, but were just unable to with a bad turnover here or a missed layup there. They only got so many of those chances while the Mavericks continued to be unstoppable on offense. It seemed like if Luka wasn’t scoring, then the Mavericks role players were getting wide open looks, and on this night the shots were falling. The Mavericks kept up the defensive intensity in the fourth and slowed the game down, and after a solid few minutes from the Suns, where it seemed like they were starting to get their fight under them finally to try and go into the next game with something to build on, they then had two straight turnovers, finishing the night with 22 as a team, 9 more than their season average. The Mavericks won the game with a final score of 113-86 and did so on a formula that has worked in all their wins: let Luka get going and use himself as the focal point to take pressure off of the role players, who are then able to perform better and actually show up to the game. Luka did not have an efficient night, but was able to get to the line and could afford to miss a few extra shots with the way the rest of his squad stepped up. Every game this series has been decided by the home team, which I also think has a lot to do with how the Mavericks role players especially play at home versus on the road, and now Luka and company have one chance to steal one in Phoenix on Sunday to advance to the conference finals.

POTG: Luka Doncic - 33 pts, 11 reb, 8 ast, 4 stl on 11-26 fg and 2-8 3pt fg