What NBA Playoff games are on today, Friday 6 May 2022?
After a break in the Playoff action on Thursday, Friday night presents two games as Phoenix and Miami hold 2-0 leads over Dallas and Philadelphia going into Game 3.
The NBA Playoffs return on Friday night with two games for fans to look forward to. Both top seeds in the West (Phoenix Suns) and the East (Miami Heat) have been impressive so far as they hold 2-0 leads over Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers respectively with both Boston and Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State and Memphis Grizzlies tied at 1-1 as Game 3 looms.
On Friday, the spotlight falls on Philadelphia as they welcome Miami and Dallas will hope to stunt the Phoenix Suns who have impressed in the opening two games of the series.
Heat @ 76ers: 7:00 pm (ET) start
The Miami Heat took a commanding 2-0 series lead against the Philadelphia 76ers, comfortably winning 119-103 at home on Wednesday night as the series heads to Philly for Game 3 tonight.
The Eastern Conference first seed were faced with little resistance against a Sixers side without Joel Embiid protecting the paint, shooting 51.3% from the floor and 48.3% from beyond the arc.
Jimmy Butler was transformative on the offensive end for the Heat, finishing with 22 points on eight-of-15 shooting and 12 assists.
Four Heat players - Bam Adebayo, Gabe Vincent, Max Strus and Tyler Herro - had three assists, while Herro and Victor Oladipo combined for 37 points off the bench on 12-of-21 shooting.
The absence of 76ers Joel Embiid can’t be overstated. The star player suffered a concussion and broken orbital bone against Toronto last week and despite positive talk from Doc Rivers regarding the player’s evolution, that badly needed boost is unlikely to come until at least Game 4.
76ers coach Doc Rivers will hope that a packed crowd at the Wells Fargo Centre can inspire his men to clawing back a game with his team second best to the team from Florida in both semi-final games to date.
Suns @ Mavericks: 9:30 pm (ET) start
The Phoenix Suns assuredly defended home court in their series with the Dallas Mavericks, securing a 129-109 victory on Wednesday night in Arizona.
A dominant second half saw the Suns through in Game 2, scoring 71 points on 29-of-41 shooting against the Mavs’ 49 points on 14-of-39 from the floor.
Devin Booker and Chris Paul took over, combining for 41 points on 16-of-21 shooting after the main change. The change in game complexion was all the more distinct with Dallas taking 16 free-throw attempts in comparison to Phoenix’s five.
Booker and Paul scored 30 and 28 points respectively on the night, with the latter chipping in eight assists and six rebounds.
Luka Doncic put up 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting along with seven assists, but crucially committed as many turnovers for the Mavs.
Mavs’ coach Jason Kidd repeated his plea for the rest of his Dallas Mavericks players to do more to help Luka Doncic after they fell 2-0 behind to the Phoenix Suns in the NBA playoffs. “Luka had a great game, but no one else showed,” Kidd said. “We’ve got to get other guys shooting the ball better”.