What NBA Playoff games are on today, Saturday 7 May 2022?

There are two games programmed for Saturday night as the NBA playoffs gather pace. First up are the Boston Celtics, who head to the Fiserv Forum in Wisconsin for their Game 3 matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. Marcus Smart could return for the Cs, he sat out Game 2 with a pulled hamstring but was listed as probable on Friday night. Ime Udoka’s team levelled the series, beating the Bucks 109-86 on Wednesday. Since then, both teams have had three days to get their energy back and rest.

Head coach Ime Udoka believes his team will be fresher after having longer to recover and gave updates on the status of Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown. “Obviously, this time of year, guys are banged up a little bit here and there and that benefits us as far as that and it gives us preparation time to make adjustments, look at the games, and see what we want to do better in areas to improve in.” he explained, adding, “Marcus is doing much better, he went through a shootaround today, he’s been getting some extra work in and he will be listed as probable. Jaylen is good. Nothing’s been discussed. He felt fine after the game. We took him out at the end of the game because of our lead, he’s fine”.

There was some positive news for the Bucks who have George Hill listed as probable. The guard has been recovering from an abdominal strain which has kept him sidelined during all of the playoffs. “He pretty much did all of practice and did some extra, a play group, afterwards. I think we just gotta see how he comes out of that,” coach Mike Budenholzer. Not so lucky is Khris Middleton, who remains out with a sprained MCL to his left knee and will also miss Game 4.

Boston Celtics vs Milwaukee Bucks Game 3 takes place on Saturday 7 May at the Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee. Tip-off is at 3:30 p.m. EST / 12:30 p.m. PST. The best-of-seven series is currently tied at 1-1.

Grizzlies travel to the Bay Area

Saturday’s action continues over at the Chase Center in San Francisco where the Warriors and the Grizzlies will both be aiming to go a game up in their semi-final series which has been highly entertaining so far. It stands at 1-1 with the first two games being closely-fought. The Dubs went 1-0 up in the series after pipping the Griz 116-117 in Memphis in Game 1 with Klay Thompson pinging in from downtown with a minute to go and Ja Morant agonisingly missing a lay-up with three seconds on the clock.

Memphis battled back to level it up on Tuesday, beating the No.3 seeds 106-101 with an inspired Ja Morant firing a joint-career-high 47 points, with 18 of them coming in the 4th quarter. Stephen Curry ended with 27 points, 9 rebounds and eight assists for the Warriors.

Dillon Brooks is suspended for Game 3 for his flagrant foul in Game 2. Gary Payton will miss the remainder of the playoffs after fracturing his elbow. Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained, “It doesn’t matter. Gary’s out for the foreseeable future, the next few weeks - that’s what matters to us,” he said. “We’re going to have to have guys step up, in Gary’s absence - JK could be one of them, Damion Lee, another. We can look at different combinations, play [Kevon] Looney more, off the bench. Obviously without Gary, we’ve got a tougher job on our hands now and we just have to go out and do it”.

The Grizzlies meanwhile have Steven Adams active for Game 3 - coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters, “We have to rally as a team, as we’ve done all season long. We know the gameplan, we know what level we’ve got to play at - especially on the road now. It’s business as usual, we’ve come out here to put our work in. We’ve just got to compete at a really high level against a really good team - they’re a tough team to stop and a tough team to score so it will be very competitive moving forward”.

Golden State Warriors vs Memphis Grizzlies Game 3 takes place on Saturday 7 May at the Chase Center, San Francisco. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. EST / 5:30 p.m. PST. The series currently stands tied at 1-1.