What NBA games are on today, Monday, April 25?
There are three playoff games on Monday night as wins would take Boston and Philadelphia into the next round as Dallas and Utah battle for superiority.
The 2021-22 playoffs are reaching crunch time as there is still everything to play for with no team at this point eliminated after four games (with the exception of Boston-Brooklyn where three games have taken place).
Tonight’s games could alter this situation as a win for the Celtics against their rivals from New York would mean an end of the line for the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as Boston lead the series 3-
Similarly, the Toronto Raptors could see the curtain come down on their season and the Canadians need to avoid defeat to the 76ers to keep the tie alive.
NBA playoff games for Monday 25 April
7pm ET: Celtics @ Nets (3-0)
It’s make or break for the Brooklyn Nets tonight in front of a home crowd at the Barclays Centre as the team look for the win that would keep their season dreams alive and avoid an embarrassing early exit from the first round of postseason action.
There has been plenty of soul-searching at the Nets camp with Power Forward Kevin Durant claiming that he has not been getting his flow because he was trying too hard to figure out the best way to play.
“I just tried to play the game the right way without being too aggressive... I’m just thinking too much, to be honest, this whole series,” he said.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart will lead the Celtics once again and with the Boston side one of the most in-form in the NBA at present, it’s difficult to bet against a 4-0 whitewash which would see the pre-season favourites eliminated.
8pm ET: Raptors @ 76ers (1-3)
Philly will look to end Toronto’s involvement in the NBA postseason tonight with Joel Embid expected to play despite a torn ligament in his right thumb.
Toronto too have injury concerns of their own with starman Fred VanVleet suffering with a hip problem but Raptors coach Nick Nurse is confident the 28-year-old will play through the pain barrier.
Raptors’ Pascal Siakam scored 15 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter on Saturday for Toronto, who are trying to become the first NBA team in history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit in the playoffs.
9:30pm ET: Jazz @ Mavericks (2-2)
Mavericks fans hopes will once again be deposited in Luka Doncic following his return from injury in Game 4 where he scored 30 points with 10 rebounds for Dallas in his first appearance in the series after the calf problems, which kept him out since April 10.
In the final minute of the game, the Mavericks were 3-1 in the series after a spectacular three-pointer by Doncic off Frenchman Rudy Gobert had put Dallas ahead 95-99 with 39 seconds left. With a 98-99 lead, center Dwight Powell missed two free throws for Dallas with 19 seconds left.
The Jazz grabbed the rebound and star Donovan Mitchell threw a pass in the air for Gobert to slam the rim and put the Jazz ahead with just 11 seconds on the clock.
The play capped a great performance by Mitchell and Gobert together after weeks of speculation about new chemistry problems between the two.