Utah Jazz, LA Clippers edge ahead in NBA playoffs
Utah Jazz's Royce O'Neale and Denver Nuggets' Paul Millsap battle for a rebound. Photo: Getty
Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers have rebounded to take 2-1 leads in their respective NBA western conference play-off series while the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors are just one win away from advancing the eastern conference semi-finals.
Mike Conley scored 27 points in his return from quarantine to lead Utah to a 124-87 rout of Denver Nuggets.
The 37-point loss tied the third-worst in Denver’s post-season history.
It’s the second straight lopsided win for the Jazz in the series after dropping game one in overtime.
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Conley left the NBA bubble for the birth of his son and returned on Monday night. He went through a four-day quarantine that ended on Friday.
He was 7-of-8 from 3-point range and had four assists.
Rudy Gobert had a play-offs career-high 24 points on Friday courtesy of numerous easy dunks and lay-ups and pulled down 14 rebounds in a dominant double-double.
Australian Joe Ingles had a quiet scoring night for the Jazz with just two points but dished out a game-high eight assists in less than 22 minutes.
Kawhi Leonard had 36 points, nine rebounds and eight assists as the Clippers closed out the Dallas Mavericks 130-122.
Luka Doncic had a triple-double – 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists – but suffered an ankle sprain late in the third quarter.
The Slovenian star, worryingly, returned to play in the fourth before checking out for good after a rough shooting night.
Three defensive players down the stretch guided Boston past the Philadelphia 76ers 102-94 to make it three wins in as many games for the third-seeded Celtics.
Kemba Walker scored a team-high 24 points, including a key jumper with about a minute to play to put Boston up by four and set the stage for a possible sweep in the best-of-seven series.
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Joel Embiid led all scorers with 30 points but the Sixers have been unable to close out games with the absence of All-Star Australian Ben Simmons, due a knee injury, proving too big a hurdle for Brett Brown’s team.
Meanwhile, the defending champion Toronto Raptors eased past the Brooklyn Nets 117-92 to take a 3-0 lead in a post-season series for the first time in franchise history.
-AP
