The Pacers finally won a game in crunch time and the Nuggets jumped back in their series aggressively. Here are three stars from Friday’s NBA playoff games.
Haliburton continued his excellent outside shooting for a second straight game. So much so that he joined an elite group of players to score 30-plus points and make six or more three-pointers in consecutive playoff games.
Tyrese Haliburton is just the 5th player in NBA history to record 30+ PTS and 6+ 3PM in back-to-back postseason games, joining:
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 11, 2024
Stephen Curry (7x)
Donovan Mitchell (2x)
James Harden
Damian Lillard pic.twitter.com/5Dl1bVfxbg
The Pacers star has 13 threes in the last two games. He may have done most of his scoring damage before halftime on Friday, but Haliburton turned up his passing in the second half. His outside shot deserted him as he shot 1 for 6 from behind the arc, but he dished six assists.
And when things looked darkest for Indiana, down nine in the final quarter, Haliburton went on a personal 7-0 run to get the Pacers right back in the game.
Hali finishes the TOUGH and-1... he's got 31 PTS!
— NBA (@NBA) May 11, 2024
Pacers trail by 6 in the 4th quarter on ESPN pic.twitter.com/lRm8KxrtNG
Still, Haliburton wants to do better in Sunday’s Game 4, because it’s Mother’s Day. And that means a chance to make his mother proud in person.
"We gotta be ready to go on Sunday... everyone's going to be amped for that game. It's Mother's Day all our moms are going to be there, I'm excited!"
— NBA (@NBA) May 11, 2024
Hali is fired up for Game 4 on Sunday #NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/EmTEyIdyT3
DiVincenzo tried to compensate for a missing OG Anunoby and a limited Jalen Brunson by playing like he was an NBA Jam character who’d made three shots on a row. In other words, DiVincenzo was on fire in Game 3.
A DIVINCENZO HEATER
— NBA (@NBA) May 11, 2024
35 PTS and his SEVENTH triple
Knicks seeking a 3-0 series lead on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/koPl4VQZzH
He made seven three-points, put up 35 points and did so while committing only one single turnover. DiVincenzo also turned in the highlight performance with what must be tired legs, playing nearly 44 minutes per game in this series. But he’s answering the bell and becoming an Italian-American hero for New York City in this series, redeeming some of the damage done by the Andrea Bargnani Knicks era.
Jokic collected his third MVP this week and performed like the best player in the NBA Friday night. He finished one assist short of a triple-double in a 24-point, 14-rebound effort with nine assists as the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-90.
Jokic spins and cleans up his own
— NBA (@NBA) May 11, 2024
22 PTS, 13 REB, 9 AST for the 3x #KiaMVP!
Nuggets looking to take Game 3 on ESPN pic.twitter.com/Dsb55ot1Nb
Jokic’s 14 rebounds were more than Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid had combined, with the Wolves’ big men finishing with only 10 boards. He was only three points short of the Wolves trio’s 27 points, and he beat their combined assist total, nine to five.
That’s because Jokic made a living controlling the interior, which let Jamal Murray (24 points) and Michael Porter Jr. (21 points) hurt the Wolves from the perimeter. That duo combined to short 6 for 10 from three-point range and over 50 percent overall.
It turns out the best way to shut up MVP critics is to win a playoff game by 27 points. And Jokic did it Friday with style.
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