WASHINGTON DC —
Nikola Jokic scored 37 points and the
Denver Nuggets avoided being swept out of the NBA playoffs on Sunday, holding
off the Golden State Warriors 126–121.
اضافة اعلان
The 27-year-old Serbian, last season's
NBA Most Valuable
Player, also delivered eight rebounds and six assists as the Nuggets pulled
within 3–1 in their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series to
force a fifth game on Wednesday at San Francisco.
The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks and the Eastern
Conference top-seeded Miami Heat pushed their series leads to 3–1 with lopsided
victories.
The Bucks routed the Chicago Bulls 119–95 and the Heat dominated
the Atlanta Hawks 110–86.
The upstart
New Orleans Pelicans, last team to clinch their
playoff spot, beat the West's top-seeded Phoenix Suns 118–103 to knot their
series two games apiece.
Jokic acknowledged that the Nuggets were determined to avoid
a sweep on their home floor against the Warriors.
"We put up the fight," Jokic said. "We didn't
want to get swept. We have more pride in ourselves."
After Stephen Curry nailed a long jumper to give Golden
State a 121–119 lead with 1:21 to play, Jokic made a layup,
Monte Morris sank a
go-ahead jumper with 33 seconds remaining and, after a steal by Austin Rivers,
Jokic fired a pass to Will Barton for the deciding corner three-pointer with
8.3 seconds remaining.
No team in NBA history has overcome a 3–0 deficit to win a
playoff series, but Jokic says the Nuggets have the spirit to make history.
"We've really got our second wind, so why not?" he
said.
In the 2020 playoffs played in the coronavirus bubble, the
Nuggets became the first team to rally from 3–1 down in a series twice in the
same post-season.
"Can I say we have them right where we want them?
No," said Nuggets coach Michael Malone. "But we're alive."
Morris had 24 points and
Aaron Gordon added 21 for Denver.
Curry had 33 off the bench — 15 in the fourth quarter — to
lead Golden State, while Klay Thompson had 32 in his first 30-point playoff
game since the 2019 NBA Finals.
In Chicago,
Giannis Antetokounmpo delivered game highs of 32
points and 17 rebounds to lead the Bucks. The Greek star also passed off seven
assists and blocked two shots to put the Bucks in control as they head home for
game five on Wednesday.
Bucks reserve Grayson Allen scored a career-playoff-high 27
on 10-of-12 shooting, 6-of-7 from three-point range, while Jrue Holiday added
26 points and Bobby Portis had 14 for Milwaukee, who were again without injured
forward Khris Middleton.
The Bulls, who haven't won a home playoff game since 2015,
were led by Zach LaVine with 24 points and 13 assists while DeMar DeRozan added
23 points.
Heat scorch Hawks
Jimmy Butler led the Heat in Miami, scoring 36 points to put
the team on the brink of advancing.
Miami held Atlanta star
Trae Young to just nine points on
3-of-11 shooting — all three of his baskets three-pointers.
"They brought the pressure and we just couldn't match
it," Young said.
Butler added 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals for a
Heat team that was without Kyle Lowry, who was sidelined with a hamstring
strain but was a vocal presence on the bench.
Trailing by one after the first quarter, the Heat seized
control with a 30–15 second quarter that featured a 15–0 scoring run and closed
with an 11–0 surge. They'll try to close it out on their home floor on Tuesday.
Phoenix, who led the league with 64 regular-season wins,
find themselves heading home for game five on tied 2-2 with a young Pelicans
team that harried them throughout a sometimes tense battle in New Orleans.
Brandon Ingram scored 30 points and Jonas Valanciunas added
a playoff-career-high 26 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Pelicans against a
Suns team missing top scorer
Devin Booker, sidelined the remainder of the
series with a hamstring strain.
Phoenix, led by 23 points from DeAndre Ayton, led 51–49 at
halftime.
But New Orleans outscored Phoenix by 13 points in the third
quarter to take a 10-point lead and put it away with a 12–0 scoring run that
pushed their lead to 16 points midway through the final period.
Suns star Chris Paul, harried all night by New Orleans' Jose
Alvarado, scored just four points with 11 assists and was whistled for one of
three technical fouls meted out to the Suns.
Read more Sports
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
