What NBA Playoff games are on today, Thursday 5 May 2022?
With Phoenix and Miami holding 2-0 leads over Dallas and Philly & with Boston-Milwaukee, Golden State-Memphis tied at 1-1, the NBA Playoffs take a night off.
Basketball fans will be without a fix of Playoff action on Thursday night as the players take a well-earned break after two games in the semi-final series.
Both top seeds in the West (Phoenix Suns) and the East (Miami Heat) have been impressive as they hold 2-0 leads over Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers with both Boston and Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State and Memphis Grizzlies tied at 1-1.
With no NBA action scheduled for Thursday night, let’s take a look at what’s coming up on Friday, May 6th.
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 on Friday.
The Eastern Conference’s first seed were faced with little resistance against a Sixers side without Joel Embiid protecting the paint, shooting 51.3 per cent from the floor and 48.3 per cent 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 Sixers kept turnovers relatively low with eight but did not generate great shots either, coming up with 17 assists for the night and connecting on a poor 26.7 per cent of three-point attempts.
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.