The NBA postseason rolls on with a four-game slate on Tuesday evening. It’s extremely possible that three series could come to a close when all is said and done.
The Toronto Raptors began the night by making a statement to the rest of the Eastern Conference by jumping out to a 16-point lead after one quarter of play and then never looking back as Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam combined for 51 points in Toronto’s series-clinching 115-96 victory in Game 5.
Later, the 76ers started their matchup against the Nets on a 20-2 run and that proved to be all the cushion that they would need as Philadelphia never felt a threat from Brooklyn over the course of the night as every Sixers player who saw action on the night recorded at least two points with six players reaching double figures, led by Joel Embiid’s game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds.
In the third game of the night, the Denver Nuggets continued the blowout trend by crushing the San Antonio Spurs, 108-90. Nikola Jokic led the way, putting up a near triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. After dropping Game 1, the Nuggets have now battled back to take a 3-2 series lead, and have a chance to close things out in San Antonio on Thursday night.
The night finishes up with the Oklahoma City Thunder trying to stave off elimination in Game 5 of their series against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Thunder are looking to avoid being eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
NBA playoffs schedule for Tuesday, April 23
*All times Eastern
- Toronto Raptors 115, Orlando Magic 96 (Box Score)
- Philadelphia 76ers 122, Brooklyn Nets 100 (Box Score)
- Denver Nuggets 108, San Antonio Spurs 90 (Box Score)
- Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trail Blazers, 10:30 p.m. (GameTracker) — TV: TNT | Streaming: fuboTV (try it free)
Lillard goes off in first half
Damian Lillard was stuck on automatic in the first half of Game 5 against the Thunder. The Trail Blazers’ point guard went for a whopping 34 points in 24 minutes, shooting 12-of-18 from the field. In the process, he set a new franchise record for points in a half in a playoff game.
Murray comes up clutch for Nuggets in Game 5
The Denver Nuggets are now one win away from advancing to the Western Conference semifinals thanks largely in part to another impressive showing from Jamal Murray as the guard stuffed the stat sheet for his team to help lead them to a comfortable victory.
White spins his way to the rim
Derrick White has had a spectacular series against the Nuggets, and kept it up early on in Game 5 with a tremendous spin move into a reverse layup.
Embiid dominates with double-double in just 20 minutes
Joel Embiid, once again, showed why he is one of the most dangerous players in the NBA on Tuesday night as he poured in a game-high 23 points to go along with 13 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.
Leonard, Siakam lead the way for Raptors
Like they have throughout the series, Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam led the charge on both ends of the floor for the Raptors as the two combined for 51 points to go along with 13 rebounds, six assists, one steal and one blocked shot in Toronto’s 115-96 victory.
Embiid throws down baseline slam
Ben Simmons showed off his tremendous court vision early on against the Nets. Early in the opening quarter, Simmons spotted Joel Embiid wide open and Embiid threw down an easy one-handed slam dunk.
Jokic joins Shaq in postseason history
Nikola Jokic has had a brilliant start to his NBA playoff career with 82 points and 47 rebounds in his first four games. The only other player to post such numbers was Shaquille O’Neal in his first playoff run with the Orlando Magic.
