NBA playoffs: Thunder, Celtics survive; Clippers gain edge
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics both came into their respective Game 3s needing to win or face a 3-0 hole. Both were able to get the job done.
Oklahoma City went home in front of a raucous arena and had to hold its collective breath. With less than three seconds left, the Thunder led the Houston Rockets 115-113, with James Harden firing off a potential game-winning triple. Instead, the ball hit iron, giving Russell Westbrook and his charges their first win of the series.
Westbrook recorded his second triple-double of the series, notching 32 points with 13 rebounds and 11 assists. After shooting 4-of-18 in the fourth quarter of Game 2 (and taking deserved flack for it), Westbrook was more much economical this time around with 11 makes on 24 attempts. Meanwhile, fellow MVP candidate James Harden led all scorers with 44 points in a losing effort.
With the Thunder grabbing the win, the series now becomes interesting once more. Should Oklahoma City be able to even it up at 2-2, both fanbases would be guaranteed at least one more home game. Who would complain about that?
Meanwhile, the top-seeded Celtics were trying to get back on track against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. After taking the first two games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal at TD Garden, the Bulls found out that point guard Rajon Rondo would be out indefinitely with a broken thumb on his shooting hand.
Perhaps the news took some of the wind out of Chicago’s proverbial sails, as it was blown out by the Celtics, 104-87. Boston, which looked awful in the first two games of this squabble, got quality efforts all around. Four of the five starters scored in double digits, including Al Horford, who scored a game-high 18 points. Isaiah Thomas still wasn’t at his best – and understandably so – shooting just 7-of-18 while totaling 16 points and nine assists.
In the late game, it was the Los Angeles Clippers finding a way to take down the Utah Jazz in their Game 3 matchup, 111-106. Utah was able to win Game 1 without All-NBA center Rudy Gobert, but things have not gone as smoothly since.
On Friday night, it was point guard Chris Paul leading the way to a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference series, scoring 34 points while adding 10 assists and seven rebounds. The Clippers fell behind by 13 points at the end of the first quarter, but outscored Utah in each of the final three quarters to take home-court advantage back.
Gordon Hayward was brilliant for the Jazz, scoring a game-high 40 points on 13-of-21 shooting. Utah will try to even the series up on Sunday, with a loss likely spelling doom for a team that quietly won 51 games.
