By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Before Game 3 of the Eastern semis, Philadelphia 76ers‘ fans honored the MVP of the NBA, Joel Embiid, as the Cameronian center received the Michael Jordan trophy. Still, he couldn’t award them a victory, as Boston Celtics prevailed 114-102.
Embiid was emotional during the ceremony, and his 30 points and 13 rebounds weren’t enough as James Harden’s shooting woes continued. Harden made only three out of 14 shots from the field and ended the match with 16 points and 11 assists.
“We just held the ball too long, too much,” Embiid said. “We don’t start our actions fast enough. That’s why it looks so slow. We’re not scoring the ball. We’re not making shots.”
Cameroonian also stomped on Grant Williams accidentally at one point of the game but apologized to him later.
“I was like,’ Dang, I really got curb-stomped,'” Williams said. “I’m just thankful he didn’t like fully lean his weight onto it. He definitely got me pretty badly. But then I think he felt he landed on something, so he picked up his foot. It hurts a little bit.”
For Celtics, Jayson Tatum got back on the right track with 27 points and ten rebounds, while Jaylen Brown added 23 points with seven boards. Boston now has 2-1 after three games in Eastern Conference semifinal.
On the West, Denver Nuggets couldn’t make it 3-0 against Phoenix Suns, despite another brilliant performance from Nikola Jokic. The team from Arizona won 121-114 at home to get the first victory in the series.
Jokic wrote another chapter in history books with a triple-double to remember. The Serbian center scored 30 points, with 17 rebounds and assists.
After his ninth playoff triple-double, Jokic is tied with Wilt Chamberlain for the most postseason triple-doubles by a center.
Even more impressive is that a performance like Jokic’s wasn’t ever seen in the NBA. Joker became the first player in history with a 25/15/15 playoff game. Still, it wasn’t enough.
Devin Booker also wrote history on the other side as the first player ever with 45+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists with an 80+ field goal percentage in a playoff game.
He finished the match against Denver with 47 points, nine assists, and six rebounds, shooting 20-25 from the field.
“I wasn’t a math major, but that is a really high percentage,” Denver’s coach Michael Malone said. “We have to be a lot better.”
Booker was unstoppable, as was Kevin Durant, who almost had a triple-double with 39 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.