The Brooklyn Nets are showing they are the team to beat in the NBA Playoffs – even without superstar James Harden. The Nets are halfway toward a stunning sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks following a dominant 39-point victory in Game 2, their largest postseason win in franchise history.
Meanwhile, Chris Paul looked back to his All-Star self as he led the Phoenix Suns to a Game 1 victory over the Denver Nuggets. And in the only conference semi-final matchup yet to begin, Jazz star Mike Conley’s status for Game 1 against the Clippers is the big talking point.
Read on below as SBOTOP rounds up all of the latest NBA conference semi-finals news.
Nets get biggest ever playoff win in Game 2 vs Bucks
No James Harden, no problem for the Nets. Despite missing one of their Big 3 stars, Brooklyn are now up 2-0 in their much-anticipated series with the Milwaukee Bucks after a dominant 125-86 victory in Game 2.
The 39-point win was the biggest postseason margin of victory in the Nets’ franchise history. Brooklyn blitzed the Bucks with a 36-19 first quarter and were up by as many as 49 points at one point.
Kevin Durant was outstanding once again as he had 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field to lead the Nets to victory. Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving added 22 points.
Two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo had a team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks. All-Star forward Khris Middleton had 17 points but was just 7-of-20 from the field.
But despite going down 0-2, Antetokounmpo is staying calm and remains confident the team can turn the series around.
“I don’t get too high, I don’t get too low. After the Miami series, we were up 4-0, and coming to this series, I wasn’t high. Now that we’re down 2-0, I’m not low. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, keep trusting my work, keep trusting my teammates, keep believing in the team, keep believing in the habits we’ve built all year, and hopefully in Game 3 we get a win.”
The two teams will now have three days’ rest before the series shifts back to Milwaukee for Game 3 on Friday, June 11.
Paul powers Suns to Game 1 win over Nuggets
Chris Paul looked back to his old self as the Phoenix Suns scored a big 122-105 win in Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets.
Paul, who finished with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 11 assists, led four Suns with 20 or more points. Mikal Bridges had a team-high 23 points, while Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton added 21 and 20 points, respectively.
Paul’s 21 points were the most he has had in this year’s playoffs. He did not have many NBA 2021 highlights in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers after injuring his right shoulder in the very first game of the series. As a result of that shoulder injury, Paul had a big problem on offence, averaging just 9.2 points on 38 per cent shooting in six games.
But Paul’s shoulder looks significantly better now, which is a promising sign for the Suns moving forward in the playoffs.
Nikola Jokic had 22 points in a losing effort for the Nuggets. However, the MVP frontrunner went just 10-of-23 from the field and had only three assists with four turnovers.
Will Barton, who missed the first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers due to a hamstring injury, was absent once again. Although, he is expected to return at some point in this series.
Game 2 of this series will be on Thursday, June 10.
Mike Conley questionable for Game 1 vs Clippers
Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr. is questionable to play in Game 1 against the LA Clippers due to a hamstring injury.
Conley, 33, was limited to just 12 minutes in the Jazz’s series-clinching Game 5 win over the Memphis Grizzlies after aggravating the hamstring injury. He averaged 17.4 points and 8.6 assists in five games in that series.
Conley missed 21 games in the regular season due to persistent hamstring issues. He was Utah’s fourth-leading regular-season scorer with 16.2 and led the team in both assists (6.0) and steals (1.4), which proved crucial to the Jazz’s surprising success this season.
If Conley is not fit enough to play, Joe Ingles is likely to step into the starting lineup. But losing a crucial player like Conley would significantly affect the Jazz’s NBA 2021 betting odds of beating the Clippers in Game 1.
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