By Doug Haller, Jon Krawczynski, Tim Cato, Law Murray, Kelly Iko and Eric Nehm
In Friday night’s action, Tyrese Haliburton connected on a three-point play with 1.6 seconds left in overtime to lift the Indiana Pacers to a 2-1 series lead against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Dallas Mavericks showed they don’t need their stars to shine their brightest just to best the LA Clippers, and the Phoenix Suns got blown out to fall into a 3-0 hole.
the overtime game-winner from Tyrese Haliburton 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5VF0IroY54
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 27, 2024
Here are our takeaways from the three games on Friday.
Timberwolves 126, Suns 109
Series: Minnesota leads 3-0
Game 4: 9:30 p.m. ET Sunday in Phoenix (TNT)
An unexpected hero for Minnesota
The Minnesota Timberwolves are on the cusp of making it to the second round for just the second time in franchise history. One of the biggest reasons: Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been better than Devin Booker and Bradley Beal through the first three games of this series.
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Once considered a throw-in in a trade that sent D’Angelo Russell from the Timberwolves to the Lakers and brought Mike Conley from Utah to Minnesota, Alexander-Walker had 16 points and five assists and played lockdown defense on Booker and Beal to put the Wolves on the brink of advancing.
Alexander-Walker hit three huge 3-pointers in the third quarter to help the Wolves take control. He hounded Booker into a quiet 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting and his energy helped Minnesota withstand a fourth quarter push.
Making the second round usually isn’t much cause for celebration. In Minnesota, it is something that almost never happens. The only other time the Wolves have been out of the first round was in 2004, when Kevin Garnett led them to the Western Conference finals.
Many thought the Suns had an advantage when the series began because of the success the high-scoring trio of Durant, Beal and Booker had against the Wolves in the regular season.
Edwards was his usual brilliant self, but NAW’s contribution on both ends to back him this series has been unexpected. No one accounted for Alexander-Walker being better than most of the Suns’ big three.
Alexander-Walker was a plus-28 in Game 1, a plus-14 in Game 2 and a plus-23 on Friday night. — Jon Krawczynski
Third quarters are extinguishing the Suns
They will play a Game 4 in downtown Phoenix on Sunday. The hometown Suns may be OK – as long as they don’t play a third quarter. Through three games in this first-round series, the Suns have been outscored by 34 in the third. It’s been a disaster. The biggest reason Minnesota has a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Well, hold on. Let’s think about this. Minnesota has actually handcuffed Phoenix’s Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. They were supposed to be difference-makers. Instead, Minnesota has role players who have played just as well. The Timberwolves also win the toughness battle. By a Grand Canyon-sized margin.
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All this has left Phoenix playing for pride. It’s unknown how much this will matter to fans. A season that began with championship aspirations has turned into a first-round flameout. Or something close to it. In Game 4, the Suns have a chance to show they have heart. So far in this series, it’s been impossible to tell. — Doug Haller
Mavericks 101, Clippers 90
Series: Dallas leads 2-1
Game 4: 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday in Dallas (ABC)
Maybe Mavs don’t need Dončić and Irving to do it all
This iteration of the Dallas Mavericks doesn’t need 3s. They don’t need 40-point games from Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, not every night. Since the trade deadline, Dallas has looked different. They don’t shoot as many 3s as they used to, and their surge in the standings came with a defense that was the league’s best across the final 15 games. It relies on its two superstars, yes, but there’s no expectation that they must combine for 80 points every night.
In Friday’s Game 3 win against the LA Clippers, Dončić and Irving barely combined for half of that: just 43 points on 15-of-42 shooting. Dončić was the team’s hub, and his nine assists don’t even fully represent the impact and pull he had on the game. He carried Dallas’ offense as Irving sat for longer-than-usual stretches due to foul trouble. Until the 1:18 mark of the third quarter, he had just two points, coming alive to close out the win that moves Dallas to 2-1 in this first-round series.
This may be the most athletic team in franchise history. In Game 3, they were constantly dunking and running past L.A. as their defense forced momentum-swinging moments and floor-switching turnovers. Dallas didn’t used to look like this. But they do now, and that’s the Clippers’ problem for the rest of this series. — Tim Cato
Kawhi isn’t right and Clippers have the wrong kind of fight
Game 3 in Dallas was a hot mess for the LA Clippers for a number of reasons, but two of them bear watching in Game 4.
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Kawhi Leonard is simply not himself. In Game 2, Leonard returned to action for the first time in 23 days. Leonard usually has a feel-out process when he returns from injury, but his performance in Game 2 was too rusty to lead a team in the playoffs.
The Clippers listed Leonard as questionable for Game 3, though there were no concerns about Leonard having any setbacks. He was able to travel and participate in LA’s non-contact practice Thursday. But the two days did not help Leonard on either end. Leonard didn’t take a single 3-pointer and did not score in the first half other than an and-one through PJ Washington, and he was even worse defensively.
There were signs of Leonard finding himself in the third quarter, as he drove for a baseline dunk and got up to finish an alley-oop from Paul George, but even then Leonard had to protect himself, hanging from the rim for an extended period just to land.
Leonard only lasted 25 minutes, and had as many turnovers (four) as field goals (four out of seven attempts). With Game 4 starting in less than 48 hours Sunday afternoon, how will Leonard get himself ready not just to start, but to star?
And then there are the altercations. Dallas got punched in the mouth to start Game 1, eventually trailing by 29 points early in that second half. But Dallas has punched back. The question now — did Russell Westbrook punch PJ Washington, who aggravated the Clippers all week? Westbrook and Washington were ejected in the fourth quarter, with Westbrook appearing to strike Washington with his previously injured left hand.
Russell Westbrook and PJ Washington were both ejected in the fourth quarter of Mavs-Clippers 😳
(via @BallySportsSW)
pic.twitter.com/HqinT4zile— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 27, 2024
Though Westbrook’s offensive output was poor (one point, 0/7 FGs, 0/4 3s, two turnovers), his defense was impactful. The game changed when Westbrook was called for a Flagrant 1 while trying to defend Josh Green on the fast break, and the game devolved into several hostile act reviews afterward. Westbrook is always ready to play through hostility, but whether the league determines that he committed an act that could warrant a suspension may put the Clippers at a disadvantage when they are playing to tie the series. — Law Murray
Pacers 121, Bucks 118 (OT)
Series: Indiana leads 2-1
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Game 4: 7 p.m. ET Sunday in Indiana (TNT)
Can Pacers keep the ball moving?
It’s the core of the Pacers’ philosophy and the epicenter of basketball, but the ball has to move.
Because of the experience of both Doc Rivers and Rick Carlisle and their never-ending chess match, playoff basketball can get extremely ugly at times, as decent-sized chunks of this series have displayed. The Pacers, who usually operate within a high-octane setting, have been forced to play at a slower pace, thanks partly to Rivers’ defensive schemes. But when Indiana has had the upper hand and found areas to be effective, the ball has moved around the floor, giving up good for great shots.
During the regular season, the Pacers were the best in the league at moving the ball, averaging 308.3 passes per game, in addition to leading the NBA in assists per game (30.8). They were also among the top-five teams in secondary and potential assists, further highlighting their commitment to an unselfish brand of basketball.
In Game 2, Indiana registered a whopping 38 assists on 50 made field goals. The Bucks seemingly turned up their defensive aggression another notch Friday, forcing the Pacers to generate consistent offense outside of Pascal Siakam — using a combination of doubles, pressure and zone. By halftime, Indiana had 22 assists, with Haliburton chipping in 10 of them.
The second half (and overtime, especially) turned into a complete slugfest, but the Pacers didn’t succumb to the Bucks’ persistence. Indiana had its fair share of bad basketball, settling for low-efficiency shots, but the ball never stopped moving. The Pacers finished with 32 assists, half of which Tyrese Haliburton was responsible for. Ultimately, Indiana was the last team standing in a thrilling, end-to-end duel. — Kelly Iko
Are the Bucks out of gas?
After being listed as questionable heading into the game, Middleton scored 42 points on 29 shots. He played 41 minutes in a gritty effort through the injury, but in the end, it wasn’t quite enough, and now it’s fair to wonder what the Bucks have left in the tank heading into Game 4.
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Without Giannis Antetokounmpo, this veteran team only has so much to give, and losing a 53-minute heartbreaker may put it in a tough spot moving forward.
The Pacers took a 17-point lead after one quarter, and the Bucks clawed all the way back into the game. But down the stretch, they just didn’t have enough size and strength to close out defensive possessions. Regularly during the fourth quarter and overtime, the Pacers beat the Bucks to rebounds and kept possessions alive, which only tired the Bucks further. The Pacers scored 32 points on 19 offensive rebounds, and that ended up being a huge difference.
Without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks find themselves at a deficit in many categories, and those deficits all ended up playing out against them Friday. Grabbing a win in Game 4 will be a gargantuan task, but it may be the only way the Bucks can survive this series against the young, upstart Pacers. — Eric Nehm
This story will be updated.
(Photo of Tyrese Haliburton: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today)