It was “grand closing” for three series and another road win in a fourth. Here’s a look at the keys to how Wednesday’s quadruple-header unfolded.
Philadelphia 76ers 129, Washington Wizards 112
76ers win series 4-1
Philadelphia entered Wednesday hoping to clinch this first round series in front of their home fans. They would have to do so without star center Joel Embiid, who is out on a day-to-day basis with a small meniscus tear in his right knee. The Sixers did have their difficulties staving off the Wizards in the first half. However, their second half surge proved to be strong enough to send Washington back home for the year.
The first 24 minutes saw both teams seemingly running similar drive-and-kick gameplans. These mirrored styles of play helped make this a 65-63 game at halftime, with Philadelphia just barely ahead.
For Washington, Bradley Beal seemed to be the biggest beneficiary of the scheme, dropping 21 points in the first half on 6-of-11 shooting. Russell Westbrook went 4-of-10 from the field in the half, with three of those four field goals coming off of pull-up mid-range jumpers. His six free throws helped him accumulate 14 points at the half, along with seven assists.
For Philadelphia, Tobias Harris answered the call of filling the Embiid-sized scoring void. He had 16 at the half on 5-of-11 shooting and five free throws. However, unlike their Game 4 loss, several Sixers stepped up in secondary roles, with Seth Curry (14 points at the half) and Tyrese Maxey (9 points) aiding the cause.
Coming out of the locker room, both teams looked to do more of the same. However, it seem like Philadelphia kicked their already-solid intensity into another gear. In the third quarter, Philly edged out Washington 10-2 at the free throw line, 12-8 in the paint, 4-0 on the fast break, and scored seven points off of Wizard turnovers. The Wizards managed to stay within striking distance by quarter’s end, 103-94, thanks to going 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
Unfortunately for the Wizards, they went absolutely cold in the opening eight minutes of the fourth: 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from the field and 3-of-6 from the line. Philadelphia used this time to put the game away by going 6-of-12 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line. A 19-7 run.
The Washington Wizards put up a valiant effort, but in the end, they just couldn’t withstand a more superior Sixers team, even with Embiid out. For Philadelphia, they have to understand that this is the formula to win without Joel in the next round. Tobias Harris will be the scoring bellwether, but it will still need to be a team effort in order to prevail. For instance, while Harris finished the game with 28, who was actually the team’s points leader in Game 5? Seth Curry with 30 points!
Atlanta Hawks 103, New York Knicks 89
Hawks win series 4-1
This series seemed poised to be a chippy seven-gamer. Alas, Atlanta’s offense proved to be too much for the New York Knicks, and the Hawks managed to close things out in just five games.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying, though. New York put out another strong defensive effort in Game 5, holding the Hawks to 42.5 percent shooting from the field and 26.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. The problem is that Atlanta also put up a strong defensive performance, and left the Knicks in an even bigger bind.
New York shot just 37.8 percent from the field on Wednesday, being held to an unpleasant 36.5 percent on 2-pointers. The Knicks were also blocked eight times (four more than Atlanta), conceded 17 turnovers (six more) that turned into 18 points (six more), and committed 22 fouls (six more).
Their interior struggles marooned them to beyond the 3-point line, where they shot a strong 12-of-30 (40 percent). However, NYK’s fortune from distance was muted by Atlanta’s aggression inside. The Hawks outscored the Knicks 44-30 in the paint and 20-15 at the free throw line.
In the end, Hawks guard Trae Young had the last laugh. After being spit on by a fan earlier in the series, he returned to MSG for this series closer to drop 36 points. He struggled from the field, going 10-of-28 (35.7 percent), but he supplemented that with a healthy 13-of-15 on free throws. He literally had the final say, too, scoring Atlanta’s last 11 points of the game. Take a bow, Mr. Young.
Utah Jazz 126, Memphis Grizzlies 110
Jazz win series 4-1
The controversy surrounding Donovan Mitchell being scratched from Game 1 of this series feels so long ago. His absence was a primary factor in Memphis winning that game. In Game 5, Mitchell made sure the Grizzlies knew he was on the floor. His game-high 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting (68.8 percent) and 10 assists led the Jazz to a wire-to-wire victory that allows them to advance to the next round.
Utah woke up and chose violence, making eight of their first 10 3-pointers. This includes a juncture in the middle of the first where they made five consecutive treys. Their hot shooting helped them score 47 points in the opening stanza, a franchise playoff record for a quarter.
Utah did go 9-of-34 (26.5 percent) from beyond the arc after that opening salvo. However, Memphis only managed to outscore them 91-88 over those remaining 40 minutes of game time. The margin never dipped below 15 points for the rest of the game.
Dallas Mavericks 105, Los Angeles Clippers 100
Mavericks lead series 3-2
The cliche goes that a series doesn’t start until the road team wins. Well then, this has been quite a series. The visitors prevailed again, allowing Dallas to take the crucial 3-2 series lead. In a 2-2 series, the winner of Game 5 wins 82.5 percent of the time.
Then again, we probably could have discerned that a Mavericks win was imminent, judging by their 35-28 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Dallas is now 30-1 on the year (regular season and playoffs) when leading after the opening 12 minutes.
On the other hand, nothing is guaranteed. That one loss on the record was Game 3 of this very series. Also, the Clippers had no issue crawling back from sizable deficits in this game. They erased a 10-point first quarter margin and a 16-point fourth quarter margin in order to be within striking distance in the final minutes of the ballgame.
The game honestly came down to an ill-advised dump-off from Terance Mann to Nicolas Batum and an airballed corner three from Kawhi Leonard. A smarter decision or truer aim on the shot in those moments could have easily had LAC in control of this series.
In reality, Luka Doncic executed a hostile takeover of this game. Per FanDuel’s Rob Perez, Doncic scored or assisted on 31 of Dallas’ 37 field goals. He ended up tallying 42 points, 14 assists, and eight rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. (20 points) was the only other Maverick in double-figures. Everyone else was basically on-call for whenever a pass came their way.
This leads us to some intriguing questions for Game 6 in the Metroplex. Will Luka have to put the team on his back again just to get them into the next round? Will the Clippers find consistent offense and make sounder decisions down the stretch? Questions like this are why this is the second-most interesting series of these playoffs.
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