Monday Morning Clip May 9, 2022

Over the course of this week, a rhythm developed with the two sets of playoff series on two separate nights. One night had Milwaukee vs. Boston and Golden State vs. Memphis, and those series were competitive and entertaining from the start. They became the “good” night and I’ve tried to watch as much as I can. The other two series started out with 2-0 leads for the top seed, so that became the “bad” night, but I still watched because the Sixers were part of that slate. Suddenly, both of the bad series are even and there’s a nightly flow of good playoff basketball, at least through the rest of this week.

NBA

Dallas 111, Phoenix 101

Series tied 2-2

In a game where the two teams were largely equal from the field and from the foul line, Dallas made the difference by hitting 20 three-pointers compared to Dallas’ 9. Dallas jumped out to a 37-25 lead at the end of the first quarter (where they hit seven three-pointers) and never gave up the lead from there, although Phoenix did cut the lead to 4 at one point during the third quarter. Dorian Finney-Smith scored all 24 of his points from beyond the arc, hitting 8 of his 12 three-pointers (including three in the first). Luka Doncic had 26 points despite hitting just one of his ten three-point attempts, along with 11 assists and 7 rebounds, and Jalen Brunson also added 18 points. For Phoenix, Devin Booker had 35 points and 7 assists, DeAndre Ayton had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Paul fouled out despite just 23 minutes and accumulating just 5 points and 7 assists.

Philadelphia 116, Miami 108

Series tied 2-2

For the second game in a row and for the third time this series, Miami hit 25% or less of its three-pointers (7 of 35 tonight), while Philadelphia hit nearly half of theirs for the second straight night. Despite Miami’s shooting struggles, neither team had a lead larger than 4 until there was less than 5 minutes remaining in the half. Philadelphia briefly had a 10-point lead before half, another one with 9 minutes left in the third, and a 14 point lead with under 8 points remaining. Miami clawed back each time, but never took the lead during the second half. James Harden had 31 points on 6-10 3-point shooting (four three-pointers in the fourth quarter), 9 assists, 7 rebounds, and 6 turnovers. Joel Embiid had 24 points and 11 rebounds while Tyrese Maxey had 18 points (plus this alley-oop). For Miami, Jimmy Butler made 13 of his 20 shots en route to 40 points and 6 assists while Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 7 rebounds.

Tonight’s games

Boston @ Milwaukee (-1); 7:30 PM; Milwaukee leads 2-1

Golden State @ Memphis (+10); 10 PM; Golden State leads 2-1

Memphis: Ja Morant unlikely to play (knee soreness)

Other news: Golden State assistant Mike Brown to coach Sacramento next season.

MLB

Philadelphia 3, NY Mets 2 (game 1)

Philadelphia: Kyle Gibson: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 K

NY Mets 6, Philadelphia 1 (game 2)

NY Mets: Pete Alonso: 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 5 RBI

LA Dodgers 7, Chicago Cubs 1

LA Dodgers: Walker Buehler: 7 IP, 4 H, ER, 6 K

Chicago White Sox 3, Boston 2

Kansas City 6, Baltimore 4 (Game 1)

Baltimore: Austin Hays: 4-4, 2 R; Ryan Mountcastle: 4-5, 2B, R, RBI

Baltimore 4, Kansas City 2 (Game 2)

Atlanta 9, Milwaukee 2

NY Yankees 2, Texas 1 (game 1)

NY Yankees: Gerrit Cole: 6.1 IP, 5 H, ER, 10 K

Texas: Dane Dunning: 6 IP, 2 H, ER, 5 K

Texas 4, NY Yankees 2 (game 2)

NY Yankees: Jordan Montgomery: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 K

Cincinnati 7, Pittsburgh 3

Cincinnati: Colin Moran: 2-4, 2 HR, 6 RBI

Cleveland 4, Toronto 3

Houston 5, Detroit 0

Houston: Aledmys Diaz: 2-3, GS, 4 RBI

Minnesota 4, Oakland 3

San Francisco 4, St. Louis 3

LA Angels 5, Washington 4

LA Angels: Shohei Ohtani’s tying run

Arizona 4, Colorado 0

Arizona: Zac Gallen: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 7 K

San Diego 3, Miami 2

San Diego: Joe Musgrove: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 8 K

Seattle 2, Tampa Bay 1

Seattle: George Kirby: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 7 K

Web gems from a few games

Full standings