Scotiabank Arena Site for Sixers and Raptors
The Philadelphia 76ers (51-31) put away the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, 122-100, to win their first round series 4-1. Joel Embiid buoyed the Sixers on both ends of the floor, delivering a team-high 23 points and adding 13 rebounds on his way to a double-double, and shooting 9-of-18 from the field. J.J. Redick, who will be a wild card entering the second round, came away with 11 points, making 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Ben Simmons logged 13 points and six assists, going 6-of-10 from the paint. In a series that may ultimately come down to bench depth, Philadelphia will e without the services of Mike Scott, who is expected to miss Saturday's game with a heel injury. The Sixers will be looking to advance past the second round of the Playoffs for the first time since 2001, when they made their way to the Finals.
Tuesday night also saw the Toronto Raptors (58-24) wrap up their series with the Orlando Magic, 4-1, coming away with a 115-96 home court win. Kawhi Leonard posted 27 points in the affair, adding seven assists, four rebounds, and shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from downtown and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Pascal Siakam, who appears to be hitting his stride at just the right time for Toronto, recorded 24 points, six rebounds and four dimes, going 3-of-5 from deep, while Marc Gasol, who hopes his domination of Embiid through the regular season will carry through into the Playoffs, pulled up just shy of a double-double behind nine points and nine boards. Gasol had his way with Nikola Vucevic throughout the Magic series, and hopes to do the same on Saturday night in Toronto. Kyle Lowry had 14 points, nine assists and a pair of three-pointers for a well-rounded Raptors team that boast the eight-best scoring unit and ninth-best team defense in the NBA.
Tuesday night also saw the Toronto Raptors (58-24) wrap up their series with the Orlando Magic, 4-1, coming away with a 115-96 home court win. Kawhi Leonard posted 27 points in the affair, adding seven assists, four rebounds, and shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from downtown and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Pascal Siakam, who appears to be hitting his stride at just the right time for Toronto, recorded 24 points, six rebounds and four dimes, going 3-of-5 from deep, while Marc Gasol, who hopes his domination of Embiid through the regular season will carry through into the Playoffs, pulled up just shy of a double-double behind nine points and nine boards. Gasol had his way with Nikola Vucevic throughout the Magic series, and hopes to do the same on Saturday night in Toronto. Kyle Lowry had 14 points, nine assists and a pair of three-pointers for a well-rounded Raptors team that boast the eight-best scoring unit and ninth-best team defense in the NBA.
Nuggets Host Spurs in Game 7
The Denver Nuggets play host to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the Western Conference first-round playoffs at Pepsi Center on Saturday.
The Spurs (3-3) finished the regular season with a 16-23 road record but they can make amends of that terrible road record with a victory here. The good news is that San Antonio already won one game in Denver earlier in this series, so it's not like it's impossible. The 17-point blowout in Game 6 is something the Spurs need to build off of and Greg Popovich believes he found something that can lead to success in Game 7. The bench production was a huge part of that victory, with Rudy Gay carrying the load. Riding veterans like Gay, DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge will be critical in this do-or-die Game 7 and it's easily the biggest game of the season so far.
The Nuggets (3-3) did everything possible to land the top seed in the Western Conference and it's easy to see why after this grinder of a series. Facing San Antonio in the playoffs is always a tough task and it's led the Nuggets up to this point. The play of Nikola Jokic has just been ridiculous in this series, with the big man averaging 23.5 points, 11.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game. He's simply becoming one of the most dominant forces in the league and his 43 points in Game 6 shows just how much he wants to advance. The fact that he scored 43 and the Nuggets got blown out is discouraging though because it seems as though they could get knocked out of Jokic has a down game. They simply need more from guys like Will Barton and Gary Harris, as these wings will likely decide whether Denver advances or gets knocked out.
The winner of this game will face the Portland Trail Blazers in the second-round.
The Spurs (3-3) finished the regular season with a 16-23 road record but they can make amends of that terrible road record with a victory here. The good news is that San Antonio already won one game in Denver earlier in this series, so it's not like it's impossible. The 17-point blowout in Game 6 is something the Spurs need to build off of and Greg Popovich believes he found something that can lead to success in Game 7. The bench production was a huge part of that victory, with Rudy Gay carrying the load. Riding veterans like Gay, DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge will be critical in this do-or-die Game 7 and it's easily the biggest game of the season so far.
The Nuggets (3-3) did everything possible to land the top seed in the Western Conference and it's easy to see why after this grinder of a series. Facing San Antonio in the playoffs is always a tough task and it's led the Nuggets up to this point. The play of Nikola Jokic has just been ridiculous in this series, with the big man averaging 23.5 points, 11.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game. He's simply becoming one of the most dominant forces in the league and his 43 points in Game 6 shows just how much he wants to advance. The fact that he scored 43 and the Nuggets got blown out is discouraging though because it seems as though they could get knocked out of Jokic has a down game. They simply need more from guys like Will Barton and Gary Harris, as these wings will likely decide whether Denver advances or gets knocked out.
The winner of this game will face the Portland Trail Blazers in the second-round.