What NBA games are on today, Monday, 18 April?
There’s no let-up in the action as we look forward to Game 2 of the 2022 NBA play-offs with three games scheduled for Monday night.
Game 1 of the 2022 NBA play-offs threw up plenty of drama with Boston’s last second win over Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night being the pick of the weekend games as Jayson Tatum scored in the last second to record a 1-0 win for the Celtics. Three matches are scheduled for Monday night as we start Game 2 of the play-offs.
Raptors @ 76ers (7:30 pm ET)
Philadelphia lead the series over Toronto after a hard fought battle last weekend (131-111) which saw the Raptors lose Scottie Barnes through injury, after his ankle suffered under the weight of Joel Embiid via accidental contact.
The Sixers’ relied on the buckets from James Harden (22 pts, 14 assists), Tobias Thomas (26 pts, 6 assists) and especially Tyrese Maxey with 38 points. The Raptors will look to the likes of Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet for inspiration as they look to level the series before Game 3 which will be staged in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday next.
Jazz @ Mavericks (8:30 pm ET)
Dallas Mavericks look set to be without Slovenian star Luka Doncic for Game 2 of their series against Utah with the 23-year-old superstar is expected to miss his 2nd straight playoff game due to his ongoing calf strain.
In Saturday’s game, Utah won out thanks to the combined 58 points of Donovan Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic coupled with sterling defensive work from Rudy Gobert as the Mavs were limited to 38.7% success on shots.
“Hopefully I’ll get more scoring opportunities next game, but at the same time, for most of the game, we were moving the ball. Sacrifice is the key word, that’s what the playoffs are all about,” commented the French pivot.
Sacrifice is the key word, that’s what the playoffs are all about
Without Doncic, the Mavs will look to address their problems in offense and once again the likes of Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie will be expected to contribute to scoring as Utah will be fancied to take a 2-0 lead back to Salt Lake City for Game 3.
Nuggets @ Warriors (10:00 pm ET)
Boosted by the return of Stephen Curry and with an inspired Jordan Poole, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets 123-107 on Saturday in Game 1.
Curry returning after 12 games out with a foot injury, started as a substitute and scored 16 points in 22 minutes of play with Jordan Poole who replaced the star in the starting five making a solid playoff debut, in which he scored 30 points and made 5 three-pointers.
Golden State will be boosted by a partisan crowd once again on Monday at the Chase Center crowd and will be expected to take a 2-0 lead to Denver with the Nuggets, once again set to look to Jokic who found little support from his teammates on Saturday.