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Bucks

Nekias Duncan breaks down the 2022 NBA Finals between the Celtics and Warriors from a multitude of angles.

2022 NBA Finals Scouting Report: How the Celtics and Warriors match up

The NBA is undergoing an epiphany on positional value, much like the NFL has begun to re-evaluate modern-day running backs. Since positions are becoming less and less important and versatility is the name of the game, what&rsquo;s next for NBA centers?
Centers are slowly but surely being phased out, aside from some rare exceptions. Long gone are the Roy Hibbert-archetype bigs who patrolled the paint with slow-footed speed. The upgraded version looks more like Rudy Gobert in Utah, producing at an even higher level. But even with Gobert, long-term questions have arisen due to his bloated super-max salary.
If Gobert&rsquo;s on-court value is diminishing as well, which bigs will be deemed worthy of a lucrative second contract? It&rsquo;s an elite club where the positional value more than outweighs the price tag: Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo top the list. For all other centers, will they be worth their price in the long run?
For the Phoenix Suns, a $100-plus million decision awaits on Deandre Ayton, their only No. 1 overall pick in franchise history. Does Ayton deserve to be mentioned among those names, or does he fall a tier or two below? Ayton is an anchor of the Suns&rsquo; historic defensive turnaround under head coach Monty Williams, plus his soft touch on the offensive end already brings super efficient scoring value too.
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The Suns and Ayton&rsquo;s representation are about to enter an awkward period, and it seems like the odds of Ayton playing elsewhere next season are increasing. Do the Suns believe Ayton is worth a max-level contract? Does Suns general manager James Jones believe Ayton can be on the same tier as an Adebayo or Gobert?
Based on Ayton's usage within Williams&rsquo; system (19.8% usage rate since 2020-21), Phoenix&rsquo;s need to reconstruct the roster for more wing-based scoring as well as the big man's own desire to be a more featured piece on offense (plus his desire for a max deal), I wouldn't be surprised if Ayton&rsquo;s days with the Suns are numbered.
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One could argue that Ayton would be even more valuable if he were to leave Phoenix and sign elsewhere. In another situation &mdash; in Detroit with Cade Cunningham, for example &mdash; giving Ayton the max would be an acceptable allocation of resources that benefits both parties. However, in the Suns&rsquo; system, I don&rsquo;t believe Ayton is worthy of max-level money.
A fatal flaw that prevents Ayton from being mentioned in the top tier of big men is his lack of self-creation ability, which he's failed to develop throughout his first four seasons with the Suns. According to Cleaning The Glass, 74.8% of Ayton's shots have been assisted on in his career. Compared to his max-salary counterparts, Ayton is nowhere close on self-creation capabilities. And at this point, I have serious doubts that this will ever become a consistent part of his game during his upcoming prime years.
Percentage of FGs Assisted in 2021-22
Deandre Ayton: 81%
Rudy Gobert: 72%
Nikola Jokic: 62%
Karl-Anthony Towns: 62%
Bam Adebayo: 61%
Joel Embiid: 54%
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 43%
The NBA&rsquo;s elite big men buck the trend of super small-ball and three-point-shooting barrages because they bring unique traits to the table.&nbsp;Antetokounmpo and Embiid can simply punish any defenses that are thrown at them. Jokic&rsquo;s demigod-like ability to run an offense and be its primary scoring engine speaks for itself. Towns is one of the greatest perimeter-shooting bigs of all-time. Adebayo&rsquo;s defense and playmaking versatility, coupled with his recent development as an on-ball creator, raise his value. Gobert&rsquo;s price tag is a tough pill to swallow, especially later on, but he&rsquo;s one of the most impactful rim-protectors we&rsquo;ve ever seen (while also providing efficient scoring around the rim).
Ayton is a very good basketball player, but he fails to emphatically check any of the boxes that the other max bigs do. He brings immediate value as a scoring threat and rim-protector, with a rare ability to easily rack up 20-and-10 outings like it&rsquo;s nothing. His stat line shows that there&rsquo;s real promise if he is fed like a primary offensive hub, but that&rsquo;s not going to happen in Phoenix.
The Suns are moving away from the inside-out approach in favor of outside-in, a modern flip of the script that likely provides some insight into how they view centers. JaVale McGee was an excellent free-agent addition for Phoenix last summer, and he ended up putting up nearly identical numbers to Ayton on a per-36-minute basis:
Ayton: 21.0 points, 12.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 blocks, 65.6 TS%
McGee: 20.9 points, 15.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 2.5 blocks, 65.1 TS%
McGee is another example where working within the Suns&rsquo; system, especially playing alongside Chris Paul and Devin Booker, brings immense improvement on the margins. From the Suns&rsquo; perspective, would they rather just pay McGee $5 million again and add a difference maker elsewhere for the same price as Ayton? For example, would it make more sense to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-destinations-for-deandre-ayton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bring aboard a unique modern fit in Jerami Grant via a sign-and-trade deal</a>? There&rsquo;s no doubt that these discussions are ongoing for the Suns, because this decision will decide what direction the team is heading in the post-CP3 era.
As a restricted free agent, Ayton is heading toward a negotiation standoff with Phoenix. If the organization doesn&rsquo;t view him as a max-level player, expect to see the Suns&rsquo; offer come in around a similar annual value as Al Horford ($27.8 million) or Nikola Vucevic ($25.0 million). John Collins provides a recent example of restricted free agency leading to a cheaper payday, as he signed a five-year, $125 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 offseason.
For Ayton, it seems like a lock that he'll get a max contract from some front office. The Detroit Pistons, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers are all expected to show interest once free agency's moratorium period opens on July 1. Will Phoenix try to pull off a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-destinations-for-deandre-ayton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sign-and-trade to bring back some win-now pieces</a>? If another team extends a max-level offer sheet, would the Suns match it or let him walk? These are the big questions entering this offseason.
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Another angle that is falling under the radar is how the Suns view Ayton&rsquo;s motor. Will Ayton continue to improve his game or eventually become an albatross contract a few years from now?&nbsp;
&ldquo;Definitely getting to my second contract; that&rsquo;s my success,&rdquo; Ayton said before being drafted by the Suns.
Throughout Ayton&rsquo;s career in Phoenix, teammates like Paul, Booker and Mikal Bridges have had to keep him locked in throughout games to ensure he's playing at a certain intensity level. They have even mentioned it during press conferences. When Ayton is locked in, he&rsquo;s one of the most dominant two-way bigs in the NBA. The issue is his inconsistency and those moments where he loses focus. It's unclear why this occurs, but there are some games where it's apparent in the first few minutes whether it will be a positive or negative outing for the big man. If there are concerns about Ayton&rsquo;s motor, that will also enter this discussion.
Jones and Williams know more about Ayton's work ethic and motor than just about anyone given all the time they've spent with him behind the scenes, so we'll see if this factors in to their decision.&nbsp;
The drive to be great and the sheer will to refuse failure are what separate great players from good ones. Does Ayton possess this trait to become one of those exceptions to the rule for non-floor spacing bigs within the modern NBA?
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This year&rsquo;s Finals matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics further paints a picture of spacing and wings/on-ball creators buttering the bread of success nowadays. For their bigs, the postseason usage rate is a tell-tale sign of letting the perimeter-oriented stars cook (Al Horford: 13.0 USG%, Robert Williams: 13.0%, Kevon Looney: 11.2%). Can the Suns rely upon Ayton to be a player who takes over 20% of their offensive possessions? If it&rsquo;s a hit-or-miss proposition in their eyes, Ayton will be looking for greener pastures within the next six weeks.
As an elite finisher around the rim who also excels in pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop situations, Ayton already brings a rock solid baseline for a floor. When you add in his supreme athleticism for his position, it brings even more intrigue as a two-way force. Entering into his age-24 season in 2022-23, what&rsquo;s the next step for Ayton? If there&rsquo;s not much room left for Ayton on the developmental curve, a max contract shouldn&rsquo;t be coming his way from Phoenix.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s so divisive here,&rdquo; Suns owner Robert Sarver told BasketballNews.com in April about Ayton&rsquo;s future in Phoenix. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s shown that he&rsquo;s improved each year, helps us both on the defense and the offense. I think offensively, you see this year he&rsquo;s taken another good step in terms of his touch and his ability to score around the basket. So, he&rsquo;s been a key part of what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;
Ayton averaged 17.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.7 blocks for the Suns this past season. In an environment where he's more heavily featured, those numbers likely rise closer to 22-23 points and 12-13 rebounds per game. Is that the way to go though?
Welcome to the new evaluation process of great, non-transcendent bigs. Ayton is the first case study, and this expensive decision that's on the horizon is going to change the Suns&rsquo; future one way or another.
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With centers becoming the NBA's version of running backs, is Deandre Ayton worthy of a max deal? Evan Sidery explores.

Should Suns give Deandre Ayton a max deal? Positional value says no

According to <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/ny-20220524-hfug5wiemzcalocthifea7p7p4-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kristian Winfield of New York Daily News</a>, Kevin Durant and the Nets' front office have not spoken since they were swept out of the first round.
Winfield went to say that if the Nets don't keep Kyrie Irving around, that could cause friction between Durant and the franchise:
"In layman&rsquo;s terms, if Irving leaves the Nets, it wouldn&rsquo;t be a surprise if Durant becomes frustrated with the organization&rsquo;s ability to put championship pieces around him. They failed to do so at the beginning of last season, with none of their top offseason acquisitions &mdash; James Johnson, DeAndre Bembry or Jevon Carter &mdash; finishing the year in Brooklyn."
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;Just when it seemed like things couldn't get any worse for Brooklyn, this report comes out. The Nets have reason to stand their ground and refuse to offer Irving a long-term deal, but they cannot afford to upset Durant and risk losing him.&nbsp;

Kevin Durant has reportedly not talked to the Nets' front office since being swept out of the playoffs.

Kevin Durant has not spoken to Nets' front office since playoff exit

Luka Doncic didn&rsquo;t have another &ldquo;believe&rdquo; in him with the Mavericks facing a 2-0 deficit for a second consecutive series.
Not that the Dallas superstar doesn&rsquo;t believe. There&rsquo;s just a difference after&nbsp;losing a 19-point lead against title-tested Stephen Curry&nbsp;and the Golden State Warriors.
The Mavericks are headed home to try to stay in the Western Conference finals after they beat championship-less Chris Paul and Phoenix four times in five games, starting in Dallas, to get there. Game 3 against Golden State is Sunday night.
If Dallas is going to repeat what Doncic said he believed his team could pull off against the top-seeded Suns, it&rsquo;ll start with defense. The Mavericks got 42 points from their All-Star guard, but they quit defending the Warriors when the shots stopped falling.
Golden State shot 61% in the second half of a 126-117 victory &mdash; 79% in the fourth quarter, almost matching Phoenix from Game 2 in the West semifinals &mdash; as Dallas fell to 2-5 in Doncic&rsquo;s three playoff seasons when he scores at least 40.
&ldquo;We play defense when we play offense, and we play no defense when we can&rsquo;t score,&rdquo; Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that we have to get better at this time of the year. You can get away with it in the regular season.&rdquo;
There&rsquo;s a little something about offense Kidd wants the Mavericks to understand too. Always reliant on 3-point shooting, Dallas took its big lead because those shots were going in.
When the 3s stopped falling in the third quarter, Doncic and company kept shooting them. He missed a pair and Reggie Bullock was off on all three of his as Dallas ended up 2 of 13 from deep while a 14-point halftime lead was cut to two.
&ldquo;We got to attack the paint more, like they did,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;They attacked the paint a lot. They have two of the best shooters in the world, and they still attack the paint.&rdquo;
Curry did his thing with 32 points while fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson had another relatively quiet night with 15 points &mdash; except for two driving dunks after halftime.
When the Warriors didn&rsquo;t have free runs to the basket, center Kevon Looney was often waiting underneath. His career-high 21 points, regular season or playoffs, helped the Warriors to a 62-30 advantage in the paint, the most points the Mavericks have allowed inside in the postseason.
With 12 rebounds, Looney became the first Golden State center since Robert Parish in 1977 to have at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in a playoff game, according to StatMuse.
&ldquo;Playing center for the Warriors, it&rsquo;s a different type of job from other teams,&rdquo; Looney said. &ldquo;A lot of the scoring and stuff, we don&rsquo;t really need us to do. I&rsquo;m going to remember that stat, so I can tell somebody else about it.&rdquo;
The Mavericks found a way to limit the efficiency of Deandre Ayton after a big game from the Suns center in the opener of that series.
The growing ineffectiveness of Dwight Powell (zero points, two rebounds in eight minutes in Game 2) has forced Dallas to go small. The Mavericks can&rsquo;t keep doing it if they can&rsquo;t limit Looney, who had five offensive rebounds and helped offset a dud from Draymond Green (minus-19 before fouling out with six points).
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the guys that no one writes about or talks about,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;But we understand the impact he has on the game of giving those guys second or third opportunities.&rdquo;
Golden State is 14-1 when leading a series 2-0 since Kerr took over in 2014-15. It is two wins from a return to the NBA Finals after the last of five consecutive appearances in 2019. The Warriors are in control because they won when trailing by as many as 19 for the first time in these playoffs.
&ldquo;Hopefully this is a game that we can kind of put in our back pocket and remember because there&rsquo;s a good chance we&rsquo;ll be in this situation again,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;This is a team that is explosive and you&rsquo;re dealing with one of the great players in the game who can create for himself and others, and it will be a hard series.&rdquo;

The Mavericks overcame an 0-2 deficit to beat the Suns in the last round. Can they do the same against the experienced Warriors?

Can the Mavericks climb out of an 0-2 hole once again?

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic was dominating, yelling in celebration and flexing his arms in Stephen Curry&rsquo;s house.
Then Curry and the Golden State Warriors delivered one of those signature third-quarter flurries that have defined so many of their postseason runs &mdash; with this one being sparked by Kevon Looney.
Just like that, they&rsquo;re two wins away from getting back to another NBA Finals.
Curry scored 32 points with six 3-pointers and eight more rebounds, Looney had a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Warriors rallied past the Dallas Mavericks 126-117 on Friday for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
&ldquo;I feel honored just to be a part of the ride,&rdquo; Looney said.
Doncic scored 42 points and the Mavericks led most of the way before the Warriors took their first lead of the night on Otto Porter Jr.&rsquo;s 3-pointer 18 seconds into the fourth.
Doncic had 18 points in the first quarter &mdash; two shy of his 20-point Game 1 total. His 3-pointer with 13 seconds before halftime &mdash; the Mavs&rsquo; 15th of the first half &mdash; made it 72-58 at the break and gave him 24 points.
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&ldquo;Against someone that good you&rsquo;re just trying to limit some of the easy stuff,&rdquo; Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Doncic even got a Twitter shoutout from&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://twitter.com/MCHammer/status/1527835832458960898" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oakland&rsquo;s own MC Hammer</a>: &ldquo;Ok young Luka &hellip; We see you.&rdquo;
But Golden State answered with a 25-13 third quarter to pull to 85-83 going into fourth &mdash; coming out of halftime with a performance reminiscent of those thrilling third quarters of past.
&ldquo;We know how good they are as a third-quarter team,&rdquo; Dallas forward Reggie Bullock said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just something that slipped away from us as the game continued to go on.&rdquo;
Doncic shot 12 for 23 and shined in a game of brilliant shotmaking &mdash; the Warriors finished 56.1% from the floor. In the first half alone, Dallas edged Golden State 52.3% to 51.2%, including a remarkable 55.6% to 53.3% from 3-point range.
The series shifts to Dallas for Game 3 on Sunday. Golden State is two wins from a return to the NBA Finals for the first time since making five straight trips from 2015-19.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re on the road against one of the best teams in the league. It happens. They held serve,&rdquo; Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen this in Phoenix so now we have to go back and just focus on Game 3.&rdquo;
Jordan Poole scored 23 points off the bench, Andrew Wiggins had 16 and Klay Thompson &mdash; held scoreless in the first half of the series opener &mdash; added 15 points for a second straight game. Golden State scored 62 points in the paint.
Jalen Brunson scored eight of the first 14 Dallas points on the way to 31. The Mavericks didn&rsquo;t have to see as much of Draymond Green, who picked up his fifth foul with 6:01 left in the third, then returned with 6:33 left before fouling out with 2:25 to go.
The teams tangled with 8:03 left in the second quarter in front of the Dallas bench. Warriors reserve Damion Lee closed out as Davis Bertans hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Bertans tripped Lee and sent him in a flip hard to the floor. Lee had to be held back by official Eric Lewis.
The players were issued double technicals.
In Game 1 two days earlier, Doncic faced smothering defense from Wiggins and shot just 6 for 18 and 3 of 10 from deep. Kidd expected a far better outing in Game 2.
Golden State continued to push the pace and committed 16 turnovers after 15 in the opener.
RELIABLE LOONEY
Moved back into the starting lineup for the clinching Game 6 of the semifinals against Memphis, Looney shot 10 for 14 after making all five of his field goals in Game 1.
He notched his second career postseason double-double.
&ldquo;Tonight was my night to make a big difference and I just stepped up,&rdquo; Looney said.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Dallas led by as many as 16 in the opening quarter. ... The Mavs were outrebounded again at 43-30 after a 51-35 disadvantage in Game 1. They committed one fewer turnovers with 12 after Doncic had seven in the series opener. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to take care of the ball because the Warriors once you turn the ball over, they&rsquo;re gone, and a lot of times it&rsquo;s an open 3,&rdquo; Kidd said beforehand.
Warriors: G Gary Payton II &mdash; who broke his left elbow on a hard foul when Memphis star Dillon Brooks clobbered him May 3 on a fast break for a Flagrant 2, ejection and one-game suspension &mdash; is doing light individual work on court that includes shooting with his non-dominant right hand and will be re-evaluated in a week. ... F Andre Iguodala missed his ninth straight game with a disc injury in his neck is continuing his rehab with physical therapy and training in the weight room with some light on-court work. The Warriors said they will provide an update when he&rsquo;s cleared to practice. ... Golden State improved to 8-0 at home this postseason and is 18-5 in Game 2s dating to the 2015 title run. ... Green was voted to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.
QUOTABLE
&ldquo;Steph is the best-conditioned athlete in this game, he never stops moving.&rdquo; -- Kidd
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The Golden State Warriors rallied from an early deficit to take their second straight win in the Western Conference Finals.

Steph Curry, Warriors rally past Mavs for 2-0 lead in West finals

The Milwaukee Bucks are in a sneaky-strange position after relinquishing their place as defending NBA champions.
They still have a core in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday that figures to keep Milwaukee in contention for several years. There's no major drama surrounding the team and no marquee free agent hitting the scene this summer. The Bucks have more stability than most of the recent ousted champions. In fact, I'd argue that you'd have to go back to the Kobe Bryant-era Los Angeles Lakers, Big Three Boston Celtics or early-dynasty San Antonio Spurs to find teams who gave up the title but still had promising outlooks.&nbsp;
Yet, the Bucks also seemed like they were playing from behind in most of the second round despite leading the series against the Boston Celtics multiple times. Their half-court offense was horrendous; Milwaukee averaged a putrid 81.9 points per 100 possessions on half-court plays, per Cleaning the Glass. Their defense was solid but solvable, as shown by the Grant Williams Game 7 extravaganza and Al Horford's explosion in Game 4.
How much failure can be atrributed to the loss of Middleton? How much can the Bucks stand pat as other Eastern Conference powers continue to make moves? How much will they weigh postseason failure against regular-season success and injuries?
These are the questions leadership will ask itself as Milwaukee approaches a murky offseason.
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The Bucks have their star trio locked down for the next two years (though Middleton holds a player option in 2023-24). However, they will have several smaller free agents to manage. Bobby Portis holds a $4.5 million player option, per Spotrac, and should command over twice that amount if he decides to hit the open market. Pat Connaughton ($5.3 million) and Thanasis Antetokounmpo ($1.8 million) also hold player options.&nbsp;
Wes Matthews, despite his low scoring numbers, was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wes-matthews-twoway-play-deserves-your-attention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one of the most impactful Bucks in their playoff run</a>. His defense on Jayson Tatum in particular made the second round a slog for the Celtics' star, helping keep Milwaukee in contention. Matthews will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. At 35 years old, and with a limited offensive ceiling, he'll be an interesting player to watch this summer. I'm all for Milwaukee doing what they must to return Matthews, but will his age and injury history make them hesitant? If so, does another team pounce?
Serge Ibaka will also hit unrestricted free agency, and was not much of a factor in Milwaukee this season after being acquired at the 2022 trade deadline. Jevon Carter joins him and Matthews as an unrestricted free agent; his case might be more intriguing after he emerged as a rotation-caliber guard and shot the ball better than he ever has in his short career. Jordan Nwora and Lindell Wigginton will both be restricted free agents.
This free agency period ultimately forces Milwaukee to evaluate its supporting cast around the three stars. Giannis is the rudder for every decision the franchise makes for at least the next four years. Milwaukee has to reflect on which players best fit his strengths and needs, particularly on offense.
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Unfortunately, they won't have much free agent flexibility. The Bucks only have the $6.3 million taxpayer mid-level exception to go out and sign a complementary piece. They also hold a $1.5 million trade exception that has almost no functional value. So if they want to chase a player with more stature, they'll have to get creative with trades.
However, unlike many past champions, Milwaukee does still hold its first-round pick outright at No. 24 overall. The NBA Draft could be an easy way for them to add a rotation piece either by selection or with a trade. The franchise forfeited its second-round pick, however, in the fallout from the Bogdan Bogdanovic fiasco of the 2020 offseason.&nbsp;
Our Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babock currently projects the Bucks to select Blake Wesley in his most recent <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Mock Draft.</a>&nbsp;A 6-foot-5 freshman guard from Notre Dame, Wesley brings an enticing mix of length, slashing, scoring potential and defensive upside.
Does a seven-game sample dictate how the Bucks approach this offseason? It feels unfair to the larger roster and the shooters who ultimately went cold in a pivotal Game 7. But Milwaukee's expectations are now to win in these seven-game series, and when the offense looked as bad as it did in Round 2, running it back seems illogical.
It's not a call for Mike Budenholzer's ousting or saying that any particular player is holding the team back. The Bucks instead have to take a long, hard look at what team they want to be and what current players fit into that mold. They're still very much title contenders, but this season was a reminder that contention doesn't get you very far in the NBA.
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The Bucks have a stable foundation, but does a second-round exit force a change with the franchise?

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Milwaukee Bucks?

Klay Thompson knocked down eight 3-pointers on the way to 30 points, Stephen Curry scored 29 with six 3s, and the Golden State Warriors advanced to the Western Conference finals by beating the Memphis Grizzlies 110-96 in Game 6 on Friday night.
Curry found his shooting touch late and made two straight baskets late in the third for a 78-77 lead entering the final 12 minutes. Draymond Green contributed 14 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists. Kevon Looney grabbed 22 rebounds and Andrew Wiggins scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth with a pair of timely 3s.
Golden State &mdash; eliminated by Memphis in the play-in tournament last year &mdash; withstood a testy series to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2019, when the franchise reached its fifth straight NBA Finals before losing to Toronto in the deciding Game 6.
The third-seeded Warriors will face the Phoenix-Dallas winner in the conference finals. Game 7 of that series is Sunday in Phoenix.
&ldquo;Whoop that trick!&rdquo; the delighted, raucous home crowd chanted in the waning moments, the fans&rsquo; steal away from Memphis.
Dillon Brooks scored 30 points with a career-best seven 3-pointers but picked up his second flagrant foul of the series. Desmond Bane added 25.&nbsp;
Curry checked back in for the final 8:21 and delivered a 3 with 5:45 remaining off a beautiful bounce pass by Green. Looney found Green for an easy dunk the next time down, capping a decisive 10-0 run.
After Wednesday&rsquo;s 134-95 debacle on the Grizzlies&rsquo; home floor in which they trailed by as many as 55 , the Warriors were determined to do everything better, especially cutting down on the 22 turnovers leading to 29 points.
Bane scored the first two baskets of the game before the Warriors ran off 10 consecutive points, with a pair of layups by Green and a 3 by both Curry and Thompson.
Looney started after Jonathan Kuminga had the previous three games following the injury to guard Gary Payton II. He broke his left elbow in an awkward fall after being hit over the head by Brooks in Game 2 that earned Brooks a Flagrant 2 foul and one-game suspension.
He was booed loudly again at every chance by the sellout crowd at Chase Center. When Payton was shown on the big screen during a first-quarter timeout he received a rousing ovation and touched his hand to his heart before encouraging them to get louder.
Memphis again played without All-Star guard Ja Morant, who missed his third straight game with a bone bruise in his troublesome right knee that the Grizzlies blamed on Jordan Poole pulling on the knee while going for a loose ball in Game 3.
Center Steven Adams limped off gingerly on his right ankle and headed to the locker room 3:23 before halftime but returned. At the same time, Brooks received a Flagrant foul 1 for taking down Curry and the Grizzlies forward and Thompson were hit with double technicals.
THOMPSON&rsquo;S TOUCH
Thompson, back shining in the playoffs after his 2 1/2-year absence with a pair of serious injuries, notched his fourth career postseason game with eight 3s &mdash; tying Ray Allen, Curry, and Damian Lillard for most in NBA history.
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: Brooks had three flagrant points and finished one from an automatic one-game suspension. ... Memphis missed its final 10 shots of the second quarter. ... The Grizzlies held a 55-37 rebounding advantage in Game 5.
Warriors: Curry was 6 for 17 from deep. ... Looney&rsquo;s 11 first-quarter rebounds are a career high for any quarter and they match a Warriors playoff record in the team&rsquo;s West Coast era also accomplished by Larry Smith on May 12, 1987, on the road vs. the Lakers. ... F Otto Porter Jr. was out with soreness in his right foot. ... Veteran Andre Iguodala, still sidelined with a left cervical disc injury, is scheduled to be re-evaluated again later next week.
FRIDAY THE 13TH
The Warriors had a playoff game on Friday the 13th for just the second time in franchise history, previously when they beat the Bucks 100-86 on April 13, 1973, in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals to clinch the series 4-2, according to Elias. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored a game-high 27 points and led the Bucks with 14 rebounds. Jim Barnett scored 26 for the Warriors.

Klay Thompson knocked down eight threes on the way to 30 points, Stephen Curry scored 29 with six threes and the Warriors advanced.

Curry, Thompson send Warriors into Western Conference Finals

Kevon Looney had never missed a game before he came to Golden State. Not one.
He figures that's a couple of thousand consecutive games, all the way back to youth basketball as a boy in Milwaukee.
Looney's time with the Warriors has been far different, so it's no surprise how badly he wanted to play all 82 games this season to prove to himself and everyone else that he is healthy again. He promised coach Steve Kerr he would be honest if his body ever needed a break.
<a href="https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1513379503933833216">&ldquo;Iron Man Loon," as they call him, beamed when he received the game ball from</a> the Warriors' 128-107 victory at New Orleans on April 10 that wrapped up the regular season and the big man's quest to play the full 82. Only four other players in the NBA did so this season.
"It was just good for my psyche, good for my confidence,&rdquo; said Looney, who gifted the ball to mother Victoria. &ldquo;... I wanted to put that in my head that I&rsquo;m putting all the injury stuff in the past, that I made it to this point, that I can play every game, I feel good and I don&rsquo;t have to be playing in fear.&rdquo;
Looney's emergence as a model of consistency was something these Warriors desperately needed with stars Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson all missing significant time &mdash; and veteran Andre Iguodala sitting out for stretches with various injuries.
That durability could become even more critical in the Warriors' physical series with the Grizzlies. Golden State has already lost Gary Payton II, who <a href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-draymond-green-b49c8d89dc667ca4734df9bcb42c9621">suffered a broken left elbow early in Game 2 on Tuesday after a hard foul by Dillon Brooks</a>. Game 3 is Saturday in San Francisco, with the series even at one game apiece.
Looney's interior defense and rebounding have been keys to Golden State's latest playoff run.
For five games in the first round, he muscled in the paint with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. Looney realizes his role changes this round with smaller lineups used against the Grizzlies and he is coming off the bench, vowing to &ldquo;stay ready.&rdquo;
That's how he always did it during that remarkable run of playing every game before reaching the NBA.
There were approximately 1,015 AAU games over 10 years starting in second grade. Another 20 for Samuel Morse Middle School and 100 more at Alexander Hamilton High. Then, Looney played all 36 games during his lone season at UCLA in 2014-15, when he had an NCAA freshman-best 15 double-doubles and helped the Bruins reach the Sweet Sixteen.
Early on as a pro, Looney endured his share of hard luck. He underwent surgeries on both of his hips as a rookie in 2015-16 and played just five games.
&ldquo;Missing that first season for him was tough,&rdquo; said Looney&rsquo;s longtime youth coach, Shelby Parrish, who can't even recall a single missed practice &mdash; and he served on the high school staff, too.
Looney came back for his second professional season to appear in 53 NBA games for Golden State.
A hurt hamstring kept later him out of training camp and the preseason in 2019-20, then he returned only to be sidelined again with a nerve issue. In May 2020, Looney had surgery on an injured core muscle.
Through it all, Looney longed to shed this label he felt he owned as being the injured guy. He has done that.
&ldquo;He came into the league at 18, 19, back-to-back hip surgeries to start his career,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s worked like crazy to get himself in this position and his durability this year was a key to our regular season for sure.&rdquo;
Kerr, who still takes great pride in playing all 82 games over four straight years in his career, came close to resting Looney at Toronto on Dec. 18, but the 6-foot-9 center pushed to play. Each time thereafter, Looney reassured Kerr and Rick Celebrini, vice president of player health and performance: &ldquo;I feel great."
&ldquo;I told them I wouldn't push it and be stupid about it,&rdquo; Looney said. &ldquo;They gave me that trust and I appreciate them for that.&rdquo;
Curry, who has come close on a handful of occasions to playing all 82, witnessed Looney's determination day after day.
&ldquo;Only he can probably tell you some of those games he woke up in the morning and was probably feeling it more than others and had to really drag himself to the level of availability that he wanted," Curry said, "but the fact that he accomplished that goal is so impressive."

The durability and consistency of "Iron Man Loon" has been, and will be, critical for the Warriors in a physical series with the Grizzlies.

Kevon Looney becomes model of durability for Warriors

In the 2020 Summer Olympics, which took place in 2021 due to COVID, France matched up with Team USA in the men&rsquo;s basketball gold-medal game for the third time.
The first gold-medal meeting between the two nations took place was in 1948, with France <a href="https://www.usab.com/history/national-team-mens/games-of-the-xivth-olympiad-1948.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">losing 65-21 in that final</a>.
Despite having been historically good since then, it took another 52 years for the Frenchmen to return to that stage for a second time; unfortunately, Team USA awaited again. The game was much closer in 2000 than in 1948, but the Americans &mdash; led by Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, Alonzo Mourning and Ray Allen among others &mdash; outlasted Antoine Rigaudeau, Laurent Sciarra, Frederic Weis and France, 85-75.
(No, that wasn&rsquo;t the game Carter <a href="https://youtu.be/WihbbVEmppI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dunked on Weis</a>; that was earlier in The Games.)
And in last year&rsquo;s gold-medal game, in the countries' third meeting on that stage, France <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-olympics-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401347899" target="_blank" rel="noopener">got even closer</a>.
France's best Olympic team ever was defeated by the Americans, 87-82. Team USA started Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bam Adebayo, answering the French quintet of Nando De Colo, Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum, Guerschon Yabusele and Rudy Gobert.
Contributions from the U.S. bench came from Jayson Tatum, Zach LaVine, Draymond Green and Khris Middleton, while Timoth&eacute; Luwawu-Cabarrot, Frank Ntikilina, Thomas Heurtel and Moustapha Fall were key components of France's second unit. The Frenchmen trailed by as little as 3 points with just eight seconds remaining before Durant iced the game with two free throws.
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Now imagine that game with Joel Embiid... playing for France.
The 28-year-old NBA MVP candidate, who was born and raised in Cameroon and has never played for his home national team (despite <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/things-to-monitor-as-the-next-fiba-world-cups-next-qualifying-window-arrives">coming close in 2017</a>), is reportedly <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2022/05/02/joel-embiid-could-change-nationality-play-french-national-team-report">eyeing an opportunity to suit up for France</a>.
Embiid has family in France, and is <a href="https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com/basket/basket-joel-embiid-superstar-de-nba-se-rapproche-de-l-equipe-de-france_AV-202205020664.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">considering changing his nationality</a> in order to play for the Frenchmen in the 2024 Olympic Games, where they&rsquo;d enter as one of the favorites to challenge Team USA again for the gold. According to French basketball general manager Boris Diaw, Embiid is <a href="https://actucameroun.com/2022/05/03/boris-diaw-manager-general-de-lequipe-de-france-confirme-les-demarches-entamees-par-joel-embiid-pour-jouer-avec-les-bleus-en-vue-des-jo-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking the necessary steps</a>.
(Looks like we won't ever see the Embiid-Pascal Siakam tandem for Cameroon, unfortunately.)
In FIBA, each team is allowed one naturalized player on its roster. Current and recent instances of this include American-born players to suit up for different countries, such as Javonte Green (Montenegro), Matt Costello (Ivory Coast), Anthony Randolph (Slovenia) and Andray Blatche (Philippines). Non-American examples include Congolese center Serge Ibaka playing for Spain, Cuban native Ismael Romero playing for Puerto Rico and French-born Aaron Cel playing for Poland. Another famous occasion where this occurred saw Hakeem Olajuwon playing with Team USA in the 1990s.
Regarding American-born WNBA players, known examples include Bria Hartley representing France, Becky Hammon representing Russia and Leilani Mitchell representing Australia. Non-American examples in the women&rsquo;s game include Bahamian Jonquel Jones playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Senegal native Astou Ndour playing for Spain.
Now, it may be long before we see Embiid actually playing for France if this process gets finalized, or less than we think if he decides not to wait for the Olympics.
The next major European basketball tournament is EuroBasket 2022, <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2022">which will run from Sept. 1-18 later this year</a> across Italy, Germany, Georgia and the Czech Republic. France will be one of 24 teams competing, but seeing Embiid there would be surprising.
The 2023 FIBA World Cup, which France is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/where-things-stand-after-the-second-window-of-fiba-world-cup-qualifiers">currently attempting to qualify for</a>, will take place from Aug. 25 through Sept. 10, 2023. Qualifying for the World Cup will run through next February before the final pool of 32 teams gets decided.
And the 2024 Summer Olympics, assuming we avoid another global pandemic, is expected to actually run that summer. The host of the Games? France, who will automatically qualify for the tournament <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/pr-n34-brazils-national-teams-granted-automatic-places-at-2016-olympic-basketball-tournament" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by rule</a>. Embiid will be 30 years old by the next Olympics.
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Since Embiid is reportedly targeting the 2024 Games, let&rsquo;s look at some players who might be his teammates.
The oldest players from the silver-medal-winning squad last summer were De Colo and Batum, who&rsquo;ll be 37 and 35 by the 2024 Games, so expect many of the same players to run it back if possible. One name that could join the fray is Boston Celtics second-round pick Juhann Begarin, who is just 19 years old and was the No. 45 overall selection last summer. Isma&euml;l Kamagate and Hugo Besson, both of whom are 21, are in the 2022 NBA Draft pool; the same goes for 18-year-old Ousmane Dieng, who is quickly rising up draft boards. There's also plenty of hype surrounding fellow 18-year-old, ASVEL star and 7-foot-2 sensation Victor Wembanyama &mdash; a lock to be a high draft pick in 2023.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft">BasketballNews.com Sr. NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock</a> has Dieng going No. 21 overall, Kamagate at No. 40 and Besson at No. 51.
But really, there&rsquo;s one question we need to answer, and it has to do with a three-time Defensive Player of the Year already on the roster who holds down the 5 position. Could an Embiid and Gobert frontcourt lead France over Team USA?
If you haven&rsquo;t realized, the American pool of bigs is slighter than you think.
Many of the best centers in the NBA aren&rsquo;t American and don&rsquo;t represent America internationally. Examples include Embiid, Gobert, Nikola Jokić (Serbia), Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic), Nikola Vučević (Montenegro), Kristaps Porziņģis (Latvia), Clint Capela (Switzerland) and Jonas Valančiūnas (Lithuania).
The best centers that have represented Team USA, and/or have Team USA eligibility, have been Adebayo, Green, Jarrett Allen and JaVale McGee. Deandre Ayton (Bahamas) is a player to watch <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2021/06/22/suns-big-deandre-ayton-ideal-team-usa-2024-summer-olympics-paris/5307682001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who could represent Team USA in the future</a>, along with younger bigs like Evan Mobley and Chet Holmgren.
Assuming health, so the 2024 American team could start either Adebayo, Ayton or Allen, if not 2 of the 3. Team USA is generally harder to guess in advance, but your starting lineup could look like some combination of Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards, Booker, Tatum and Adebayo. Maybe, to match size, Ayton gets in there instead of Edwards.
Maybe a Trae Young, LaMelo Ball, Bradley Beal, Jaylen Brown and Donovan Mitchell sneak into the backcourt instead. Maybe someone we&rsquo;re not projecting to make another huge leap does &mdash; like Jordan Poole, Tyler Herro or Tyrese Maxey &mdash; or maybe Jaden Ivey or Jabari Smith are more ready than we think by 2024. Even so, you&rsquo;d throw, at best, Adebayo, Ayton, Allen, and Mobley at the Embiid-Gobert combo, and that tandem could be backed up by Dieng, Yabusele, and Vincent Poirier for France.
It&rsquo;s a lot to project, no doubt, but giving <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/rankingmen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the No. 4 team in the world</a> a top-four player in the world could be what it takes for someone to snatch the gold medal away from Team USA in the Olympics for the first time since 2004.
But a lot can happen in two years, so we'll table this... for now.&nbsp;
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Bryan Fonseca looks at the potential of Joel Embiid joining France in international competition.

We’re not talking enough about Joel Embiid possibly playing for France

We have reached the point where Stephen A. Smith is conjuring up the narrative that Zion Williamson is holding back the New Orleans Pelicans from contending for a title.
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When did we get to this part of the Twilight Zone, I need to get out 😭😭😭 <a href="https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PelicansNBA</a> <a href="https://t.co/sOnggL7FYf">pic.twitter.com/sOnggL7FYf</a>
&mdash; Devonte Graham Bricks (@Marvason) <a href="https://twitter.com/Marvason/status/1521244564966756359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Let's not discuss that clip any further besides pointing out how dramatically <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wednesday-was-a-celebration-of-how-far-the-pelicans-have-come" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Pelicans changed course and captured the respect of the national basketball audience</a> this season. Stephen A.'s rant is less relevant for its substance and more noteworthy because ESPN is&nbsp;still talking about the Pelicans even after they were eliminated from a hard-fought, first-round series. New Orleans started 1-12 (!!) and turned into one of the NBA's true darlings in a matter of months &mdash; all without its most marketable star.
Brandon Ingram asserted his star status, averaging 22.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game (27.0/6.2/6.2 during the postseason) while taking a leap as a playmaker. CJ McCollum fit right in as a "1B" creator and microwave shooter after the trade deadline. Herb Jones is the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/reassessing-herb-jones-upside" target="_blank" rel="noopener">certified steal of the 2021 NBA Draft</a>, and undrafted rookie Jose Alvarado isn't too far behind.
There is no hyperbole fit to describe the sheer joy I had watching the Pelicans through the wins and losses of this season, and if you followed along, you recognize the progress that far exceeded the record and results.
Perhaps the best part is that New Orleans remains built for the future.
Only three players hit free agency this offseason: Tony Snell, Jared Harper and Gary Clark. Everyone else is under contract for 2022-23 &mdash; no team options, no restricted free agents and no partial guarantees, per Spotrac. On the signing front, Zion is the biggest domino, as he'll be eligible to sign a rookie extension before hitting restricted free agency in summer 2023. At least publicly, he is giving positive indications:
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I asked Zion Williamson if offered an extension this summer by the Pelicans would he sign it? His answer. &ldquo;Of course, I couldn&rsquo;t sign it fast enough.&rdquo;
&mdash; Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherWDSU) <a href="https://twitter.com/FletcherWDSU/status/1520095546752516096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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However, Williamson has now missed a whopping 141 games in his NBA career. Even if he inks a max extension, which Dan Feldman of NBC Sports says <a href="&ldquo;Obviously,%20that%20conversation%20is%20going%20to%20be%20one%20that%20will%20be%20a%20challenge,&rdquo;%20Griffin%20said.%20&ldquo;When%20it&rsquo;s%20time%20to%20have%20that,%20we&rsquo;ll%20have%20it.%20And%20right%20now%20what%20we&rsquo;re%20focused%20on%20is%20him%20being%20healthy,%20and%20(being%20in)%20kind%20of%20elite%20condition%20to%20play%20basketball%20and%20we&rsquo;ll%20start%20there.&rdquo;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could be worth well over $180 million</a>, Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin implied that talks might be complicated.
&ldquo;Obviously, that conversation is going to be one that will be a challenge,&rdquo; Griffin said. &ldquo;When it&rsquo;s time to have that, we&rsquo;ll have it. And right now what we&rsquo;re focused on is him being healthy, and (being in) kind of elite condition to play basketball and we&rsquo;ll start there.&rdquo;
Ultimately, Williamson's health and wealth are the rudder of the Pelicans' ceiling. But Griffin still has much to address on other fronts.
New Orleans has the Lakers' first round pick with zero protections &mdash; an exciting opportunity given that pick has the eighth-best lottery odds. At the very least, the Pelicans get a free chance to add another young talent to the rotation, and if things break right, they could add another franchise cornerstone.
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Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock projects New Orleans to pick Duke freshman AJ Griffin in <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our latest mock draft</a> if they remain at No. 8. Griffin is a high-upside choice as one of the youngest players in the draft class. A long, 6-foot-6 wing, he's returned from injuries in high school and at Duke, and flashes traits of a dynamic three-level scorer and creator.
The Pelicans send their first-rounder to Charlotte as part of last summer's Devonte' Graham trade. But they still hold their own second-round pick (No. 41 overall) and a pick from Utah (No. 52). Babcock has Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe and Villanova guard Collin Gillespie mocked to New Orleans in the second round.
Even with a packed roster and their draft picks, the Pelicans still have assets to get frisky in free agency. They'll have $10.2 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to use on a free agent along with a $4 million bi-annual exception. More notable is their $17 million trade exception generated from trading Steven Adams to the Memphis Grizzlies. New Orleans could absorb a player into that exception with some financial flexibility.
But how much should the Pelicans shake things up? Since Jan. 1, they sported the 17th-best offense and defense, according to Cleaning the Glass, and were still only the ninth seed in a deep Western Conference at season's end. Yet we saw other young prospects &mdash; most notably Jaxson Hayes and Trey Murphy III &mdash; visibly develop as the year moved along. The five-man unit of McCollum, Ingram, Jones, Hayes and Jonas Valanciunas played 294 possessions after the trade deadline and was a solid plus-7.1 points per 100 possessions.
New Orleans receives one of the NBA's biggest boosts if Zion Williamson comes back healthy to open 2022-23. Willie Green gets a summer to prepare after a stellar first season as a head coach. The Pelicans have a bright future ahead, and this offseason should purely be icing on the cake.
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The Pelicans surprised everyone with their run to the NBA Playoffs, and have only just begun an exciting trajectory.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the New Orleans Pelicans?

Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, and the Golden State Warriors overcame Draymond Green's first-half ejection to edge the Memphis Grizzlies 117-116 on Sunday in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Jordan Poole led the Warriors with 31 points off the bench, hitting 5 of 10 3-pointers. Stephen Curry added 24 points, Andrew Wiggins had 17 and Thompson finished with 15.
Green was ejected for a flagrant foul just before halftime.
Thompson missed both free throws with 6.7 seconds left, then Memphis won a jump ball before taking a timeout with 3.6 seconds remaining to set up the final play. The Grizzlies ran a play similar to Ja Morant's last-second layup to win Game 5 in the first round, but Morant's layup went over the rim.
Morant finished with 34 points and 10 assists, and Jaren Jackson Jr. matched his season high with six 3-pointers and had a career-high 33 points as Memphis' first pair of teammates to score at least 30 in a playoff game. D'Anthony Melton added 14, and Brandon Clarke had 12.
The Grizzlies finished their first-round series by coming back from double-digit deficits in their final three wins &mdash; the first team in NBA history to do that more than once in a postseason, let alone a series. They came in leading the NBA in the fourth with an average of 33 points and outscoring opponents by 10.3 points a game.
This time, they could only match the Warriors point for point in the period.
Memphis edged the Warriors out for the No. 2 seed in the West by tying the franchise record with 56 wins, and the Grizzlies also took three of four in their season series. Thompson only played one and Green two of those games and Curry three.
This was a rematch with role reversals from the 2015 semifinal the Warriors won as the younger team with Memphis led by experienced vets. This also was just the first time the Warriors started a conference semifinal on the road and third playoff series Golden State didn&rsquo;t start at home with Steve Kerr as coach.
The Warriors mixed up their lineup, benching Poole in favor of Gary Payton II to focus on defending Morant, the Grizzlies' All-Star point guard and the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-ab99752f256668274bb16e1b325e6648">NBA's Most Improved Player</a> this season.
Morant opened the game with back-to-back 3s, half of what he made the entire first round against Minnesota, and he had 14 to help the Grizzlies lead 32-24 after the first quarter. It marked the first time Memphis held an opponent to fewer than 30 points this postseason.
The Grizzlies led by as much as 13 in the second quarter and were up 61-55 at halftime.
With 1:18 left in the second, Green fouled Brandon Clarke. Officials reviewed the play for several minutes with fans chanting &ldquo;Throw him out!&rdquo; Green finished with six points, four rebounds and five turnovers.
Curry was held to eight points in the first half, none in the second and picked up his third foul seconds after Green's ejection.
Curry was held to eight points in the first half, none in the second. But he scored 13 and <a href="https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1520883744676061184">Poole had 10</a> in the third as the Warriors outscored Memphis 36-29 and led 91-90 after the third. Golden State was 14 of 21 shooting in the third, including 5 of 7 outside the arc.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Curry passed Dennis Johnson for 23rd for most playoff points with 3,123. Next up is Paul Pierce with 3,180. ... Kevon Looney and Poole started the second half in place of Green and Payton, who started but was limited to eight minutes by three early fouls. ... The Warriors also started on the road against Houston in 2018 and Toronto in 2019. ... They won a road game in a series extending their NBA record to a 25th consecutive series.
Grizzlies: Steven Adams, who led the NBA in offensive rebounds per game during the regular season, missed a second straight game in the health and safety protocols. Ziaire Williams missed his second game with a sore right knee.

The Warriors overcame Draymond Green's ejection to edge the Grizzlies 117-116 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Warriors rally after Green ejection, beat Grizzlies in Game 1

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Giannis Antetokounmpo had his second career postseason triple-double, scoring 24 points with 13 rebounds and 12 assists on Sunday to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 101-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
Jrue Holiday had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the defending NBA champions, and Bobby Portis had 15 points and 11 boards to help the Bucks swipe the home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Boston.
Jayson Tatum scored 21 points and Jaylen Brown had 12, but the two Boston stars combined to shoot 10 for 31 in the game. Al Horford added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics.
After shutting down Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, Boston couldn&rsquo;t stop Antetokounmpo -- even with Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart shaking off a shoulder injury.
The two-time NBA MVP scored eight straight Milwaukee points at the end of the first half to take a double-digit lead into the break. Boston was within seven in the final minute of the third quarter before going without a bucket for more than four minutes while the Bucks scored 11 of the next 14 points to open a 17-point lead.
Boston won 26 of its last 32 games in the regular season and was the only team to sweep its first-round playoff series. Milwaukee advanced by beating the Bulls in five games.
The Celtics led by as many as eight before Milwaukee scored the last 10 points of the first quarter. Antetokounmpo scored the last six of the half to give the Bucks a 56-46 lead at the break.
THAT SMARTS
Smart <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1520827960248438784">scurried off the floor</a> with 1:12 left in the first half, in obvious pain with his right arm dangling limply beside him, after taking a swipe from Jevon Carter in the lane.
The team said during halftime that Smart had a shoulder &ldquo;stinger&rdquo; and a right quad bruise. He received a big cheer when he came out of the tunnel for the start of the second half, and finished with 10 points and six assists in 33 minutes.
Midway through the third quarter, Robert Williams III went down at midcourt after taking a hit to the groin. He went to the tunnel but returned after the timeout.
TIP-INS
The Bucks were without Khris Middleton, who is expected to miss at least two games with a sprained medical collateral ligament in his left knee. George Hill also sat out with an abdominal strain. ... Celtics coach Ime Udoka successfully challenged a third-quarter foul call against Grant Williams when Grayson Allen sprawled to the floor after a 3-point attempt. ... Antetokounmpo shot 1 for 6 in the third quarter.

Led by Giannis Antetokounmpo's triple-double, the Milwaukee Bucks downed the Boston Celtics in Game 1.

Giannis triple-double helps Bucks beat Celtics 101-89

Stephen Curry scored 30 points in his return to Golden State's starting lineup and the Warriors beat Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets 102-98 on Wednesday night to end the first-round series in five games.
Curry converted a three-point play with 1:33 left and scored again with 29 seconds remaining to held sent the Warriors on to the second round in the Western Conference.
Jokic scored 12 of his 30 points in the final 3:46 and finished with 19 rebounds and eight assists.
The Warriors advanced to play the winner of the Memphis-Minnesota, with the Grizzlies up 3-2 going into Game 6 on Friday night in Minneapolis. Memphis eliminated Golden State in the play-in round last year.
Jokic tied it at 90 on an 18-footer with 2:26 remaining before Golden State's Gary Payton II made a layup moments later. Payton also hit a go-ahead 3-pointer from the baseline corner in front of Denver&rsquo;s bench with 6:57 left to put Golden State up 86-84 and finished with 15.
Jokic converted two free throws with 3:46 left after Draymond Green&rsquo;s foul the Golden State defensive star wanted called on the 7-footer. Jokic wound up 12 for 18 from the floor. DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points off the bench against his former Golden State team, and Aaron Gordon had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Denver made 7 of its first 10 shots after halftime to turn a 48-48 tie into a 10-point lead, 66-56. Curry's 3 with 4:06 left pulled the Warriors to 68-67.
Curry shot 10 of 22 with five 3-pointers. He came off the bench the first four games with the series beginning one month from when he sprained a ligament in his left foot March 16 against Boston.
Coach Steve Kerr went small with Curry, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson as Kevon Looney came off the bench. Thompson had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Kerr challenged the Warriors to "get back to being us.&rdquo; They had given up 30 points off 15 turnovers and committed 27 fouls that led to 36 free throws for Denver in a 126-121 road loss Sunday.
GREEN'S D
Green was whistled for his first foul 20 seconds into the game, much like Game 4 when he fouled 40 seconds into the opening quarter.
Green had 11 points and six assists. His three blocked shots moved him past Kevin Garnett for 22nd on the NBA&rsquo;s career postseason blocks list.
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Austin Rivers exited late in the first with tightness in his right hamstring. ... Denver shot 3 of 14 from deep in the first half and 6 for 29 overall. ... Jokic had 10 rebounds in his initial 11 minutes.
Warriors: Curry (3,108) passed Julius Erving (3,088) for 24th place on the NBA's playoff scoring list. ... The Warriors are 12-3 in Game 5s since winning the 2015 championship for the franchise's first title in 40 years. ... Golden State was held below 50% shooting for the first time in five games.

Stephen Curry scored 30 points in his return to Golden State's starting lineup and the Warriors advanced with a win.

Curry, Warriors hold off Jokic, eliminate Nuggets in Game 5

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points and nine rebounds and the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks routed the Chicago Bulls 116-100 on Wednesday night to finish off the first-round series in five games.
The third-seeded Bucks advanced to face second-seeded Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with Game 1 on Sunday in Boston. The Celtics swept Brooklyn.
After splitting the first two games, the Bucks won the last three by an average margin of 23.3 points. They won those three games without Khris Middleton, the All-Star who sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during the fourth quarter of Game 2.
Chicago didn&rsquo;t handle the loss of key players quite as well. The Bulls played without the starting backcourt they used for the first four games because two-time All-Star Zach LaVine was in health and safety protocols and Alex Caruso was in concussion protocol.
The absences enabled Milwaukee&rsquo;s defense to focus much of its attention on containing DeMar DeRozan, who had scored 41 points in the Bulls&rsquo; Game 2 victory. DeRozan was held to 11 points Wednesday while shooting 5 of 10.
Antetokounmpo led the way for the Bucks by shooting 11 of 15 from the floor and 11 of 14 from the free-throw line. Pat Connaughton hit 6 of 9 3-pointes and scored 20 points, and Bobby Portis added 14 points and career-high 17 rebounds. The Bucks&rsquo; largest lead was 29.
Patrick Williams scored 23 points, Nikola Vucevic 19 and Coby White 17 for the Bulls. Vucevic also had 16 rebounds and six assists.
DeRozan was scoreless in the first 26 minutes of the game and attempted just one shot in the first quarter as he tried to get his teammates involved.
The problem was Chicago&rsquo;s other players weren&rsquo;t hitting open shots, allowing the Bucks to take command early.
Milwaukee pulled ahead for good 3 1/2 minutes into the game and built a double-digit lead by scoring 12 straight points in the first quarter. Late in the first period, the Bucks began a 23-2 run that helped them extend the advantage to 49-20 with 7:25 left in the second period. Antetokounmpo scored nine straight Bucks points during that second spurt.
Chicago outscored the Bucks 22-11 the rest of the second quarter and got the margin down to 11 on Ayo Dosunmu&rsquo;s 3-point play with 9:32 left in the third quarter, but Milwaukee&rsquo;s Bobby Portis hit a pair of corner 3-pointers 36 seconds apart to make it 72-55.
TIP-INS
Bulls: The Bulls attempted 52 shots from 3-point range and only 40 from inside the arc. Chicago made just 28.8% of its 3-point shots. ... The Bulls haven&rsquo;t advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs since 2015, when they beat the Bucks before losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East semifinals. &hellip; With LaVine and Caruso unavailable, Javonte Green and Dosunmu made their first career playoff starts.
Bucks: Reserve guard George Hill still hasn&rsquo;t played in this postseason due to an abdominal strain. Hill had been listed as questionable the injury report Wednesday before getting ruled out, an indication he&rsquo;s getting closer to a return. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game that Hill is &ldquo;making progress&rdquo; but added that &ldquo;he needs more time.&rdquo; ... The Bucks have won 20 of their last 22 meetings with the Bulls. ... Jrue Holiday had 10 points and nine assists but also committed six turnovers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points and 9 rebounds and the defending NBA champion Bucks routed the Bulls to advance.

Bucks rout Bulls 116-100 in Game 5, advance to face Celtics

The Chicago Bulls won&rsquo;t have guards Zach LaVine and Alex Caruso available Wednesday night when they try to keep their season alive in Game 5 of a first-round playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks.
LaVine is in the NBA&rsquo;s health and safety protocols while Caruso is in concussion protocols. <a href="https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1519310326818353154">The Bulls announced Wednesday that neither would play in Game 5.</a>
Both of them had started each of the first four games in this series.
The defending champion <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-milwaukee-bucks-chicago-bulls-golden-state-warriors-nba-7575804a27f922408b45e5bba37f235e">Bucks have a 3-1 lead</a> in the best-of-seven series after winning two lopsided games in Chicago. Milwaukee won <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-giannis-antetokounmpo-e85af189d20ce591f1292db6c797e6ff">111-81 in Game 3</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-chicago-bulls-covid-nba-sports-b945fff713ed072974032bac3cf7bff8">119-95 in Game 4.</a>
LaVine, who earned his second All-Star selection this season, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-billy-donovan-37770becc7bfe4b8e59606b56639a7fd"> entered the health and safety protocols </a> on Tuesday. This marks his third time in the protocols; he tested positive for the coronavirus in April 2021 and again in December.
The Bulls have a 9-6 record in games LaVine has missed this season. He has averaged 19.3 points, 6 assists and 5.3 rebounds in this series.
Caruso left Game 4 after taking an inadvertent hit to the face from Bucks guard Jevon Carter. He has averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 assists in this series, and he earned praise for his defense when the Bulls split the first two games in Milwaukee.
The Bulls also are missing guard <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-nba-sports-lonzo-ball-billy-donovan-4ac9b3666c5825227884667633576587">Lonzo Ball, </a> who suffered a season-ending knee injury in January. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-46750c79bbe5ebbd7da9e84e81d3ef86">The Bucks are missing three-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton </a> due to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and reserve guard <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-george-hill-2ef0b248777b226a9c413a43af717f5a"> George Hill</a> because of an abdominal strain.

Zach LaVine is in the NBA’s health and safety protocols while Alex Caruso is in concussion protocols.

Bulls rule out LaVine, Caruso for Game 5 in Milwaukee

At around 6:00 pm on Sunday, June 30, 2019, word began to spread that free agents Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving had decided to team up and join forces in Brooklyn. It was hailed as one of the most important and impactful days in the history of the Nets as a franchise.
Despite the fact that KD was recovering from an Achilles tear, expectations in Brooklyn were sky-high. Euphoric Nets fans were incredibly optimistic, dreaming of the imminent success this dynamic duo would enjoy.&nbsp;
Yet, with both KD and Kyrie sidelined by injury during the 2020 postseason, Brooklyn was swept out of the playoffs by the Toronto Raptors that first year.
Nevertheless, expectations ratcheted up even further once Nets fans watched Durant return fully healthy in 2020-21. And that optimism reached a fever pitch when the team added a third future Hall-of-Famer, James Harden, in mid-January 2021.
However, Kyrie injured his ankle in Game 4 of the Nets' second-round series vs. the Milwaukee Bucks last postseason, and Harden was nursing a hamstring injury that prevented him from playing at full strength. KD put the team on his back and played brilliantly, but the Nets eventually lost Game 7 at home to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the eventual NBA champions.
Still, the team and its fan base were incredibly hopeful heading into the 2021-22 campaign. And for good reason, as KD, Kyrie and Harden were all healthy. Brooklynites were convinced this would be the year their team would advance to the Finals and capture the Larry O'Brien trophy, and sportsbooks in Las Vegas agreed with them, installing the Nets as the heavy preseason favorite to win the NBA title.
Things got off to a rocky start.
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Irving decided to reject the advice of medical experts and refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19. As a result, due to New York City vaccine mandates, Irving could not play in home games. Consequently, in early October, Nets general manager Sean Marks and team owner Joe Tsai informed Irving that he couldn't rejoin the team &mdash; for games or practices &mdash; until he was vaccinated.
"He has a choice to make, and he made his choice," Marks stated. "My job here is to make what we deem as the best choices for the organization moving ahead as a whole... We're looking at putting a group of people that are going to be able to participate fully. That's what this comes down to, and we're not looking for partners that are going to be half-time."&nbsp;
In November, Tsai told the New York Post: "Kyrie talks about it as a sort of personal choice issue, which I respect. But we all need to not forget our goal. A championship team needs to have everybody pulling the same direction."
Even without Irving, the Nets got off to a strong start, winning 21 of their first 29 games. Durant was playing at an MVP level over the first two months of the season, averaging 29.7 points (on 52% shooting), 7.9 rebounds and 5.9 rebounds. Brooklyn had the best record in the Eastern Conference through the first 30 games of the 2021-22 campaign.&nbsp;
However, in mid-December, a COVID outbreak decimated the Nets' depth. Durant, Harden De'Andre Bembry, Bruce Brown, Jevon Carter, LaMarcus Aldridge, James Johnson and Paul Millsap were all placed in health and safety protocols. Unnerved, the Nets front office relented and decided to welcome Irving back to the team.
With KD, Kyrie and Harden reunited, NBA pundits and oddsmakers once again predicted Brooklyn's immense collection of talent would carry them to a title.&nbsp;
However, the Nets' Big Three never seemed to get on the same page. In a Jan. 15 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Durant sprained the MCL in his left knee. The injury would sideline KD for six weeks. By late January, rumors began to surface that Harden was fed up with the circus-like atmosphere and wanted out of Brooklyn.&nbsp;
On Feb. 2, Brooklyn was beaten badly by the lowly Sacramento Kings, and Harden's effort (or lack thereof) was appalling. In what would be his final appearance in a Nets uniform, The Beard finished with 4 points on 2 of 12 shooting.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/usatsi_17609098_lg.jpg" alt="" width="566" height="378" />
On the day of the trade deadline, Brooklyn shipped Harden to the Sixers in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks.
Following the blockbuster deal, the Nets remained the consensus favorites to win the 2022 NBA title. Caesars Sportsbook elected to keep the Nets' odds at 4-1 after the trade, ahead of the Golden State Warriors (9-2), Phoenix Suns (5-1) and Bucks (7-1).
In his introductory press conference with Brooklyn, Simmons said he was looking forward to returning to action.
"I feel physically pretty good," Simmons told reporters. "Mentally, I'm getting there, so it's an ongoing thing to stay on top of that. But I think I'm heading in the right direction."
As we now know, Simmons would not set foot on an NBA court all season. Drummond, who provided much-needed rebounding help for Brooklyn early on, was essentially unplayable by the time the playoffs arrived (he logged less than 4 minutes of action in the Nets' season-ending loss Monday night).
Once Durant returned from his knee injury, Brooklyn got back on track and went 6-1 over a seven-game span in mid-March. Kyrie hung 50 on the Hornets in Charlotte on March 8. KD poured in a season-high 53 points in Brooklyn's victory over the New York Knicks on March 13. Two nights later, Irving scored a franchise-record 60 points in a blowout win over the Orlando Magic.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Irving and Durant became the first pair of teammates in NBA history to score 50 points in consecutive games. KD and Kyrie are also just the second duo to record multiple 50-point games in a season, joining Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, who accomplished the feat for the 1961-62 Los Angeles Lakers.
Then, in late March, New York mayor Eric Adams altered the city's vaccine mandate, clearing the way for Irving to play in home games. Adams, who initially stated that "it would send the wrong message" to give Irving an exemption when the city's other employees were still subject to the same mandate, said the revised decision was "about putting New York city-based performers on a level playing field."
Thus, the Nets would enter the postseason with their two top guns available (and Irving fresh/well-rested after being a part-time player for most of the season).
Yet, as it turned out, the disjointed Nets were no match for a unified Celtics team that had spent the past three months building its chemistry on both ends of the court.
Boston swept Brooklyn out of the playoffs, effectively locking up both Kyrie and KD.
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Durant played well in Game 4, but disappeared in Game 3 on Saturday night. KD was shockingly passive the entire evening, finishing the must-win contest with just 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting; his lack of aggression and intensity was stunning. In that contest, the most important game of the Nets season, Durant &mdash; a four-time scoring champion and two-time Finals MVP &mdash; finished with 10 fewer points and 8 fewer field-goal attempts than Brown.&nbsp;
Incredibly, over Game 2 and Game 3 combined, Brown scored more points (49) and grabbed more rebounds (16) than both Durant (43 points/12 boards) and Irving (26 points/12 boards).
Irving closed out his season averaging 15.3 points while shooting just 37.2% from the floor and 18.2% from three-point territory over the final three games of the series.
Being swept out of the playoffs in the first round would have been considered almost unimaginable at the start of the season, or really at any point over the past 12 months, assuming KD and Kyrie were both healthy.&nbsp;
In fact, SportsBetting.ag confirmed to BasketballNews.com that the Nets are the first NBA team ever to enter a season as the favorite to win a title, yet fail to win a single playoff game.&nbsp;
It's not hyperbole to suggest that the 2021-22 Brooklyn Nets will go down as arguably the most disappointing team in the history of the National Basketball Association.
That's not the all-time legacy Brooklynites were anticipating this squad would be remembered for. Dating back to the 2021 postseason, the Nets are 1-8 in their last last nine playoff games...
The unforgettable Sunday afternoon in June 2019, when Durant and Irving revealed they were teaming up, was 1,030 days ago.
Imagine telling enthusiastic Nets fans back then that KD, Kyrie and company would win only one playoff series (and a grand total of seven playoff games) over the subsequent three seasons.&nbsp;
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Tommy Beer reviews the Nets' latest playoff shortcoming and how they haven't gotten it done since Kyrie Irving and KD joined forces.

The 2021-22 Nets: Arguably the most disappointing team in NBA history

Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso is in the NBA&rsquo;s concussion protocol and is questionable for Game 5 of the first-round playoff series at Milwaukee, coach Billy Donovan said Monday.
The Bucks lead 3-1 and will try to wrap up the series at home on Wednesday. Milwaukee won the past two games in Chicago by a combined 54 points.
Caruso took an inadvertent hit to the face from the Bucks&rsquo; Jevon Carter while trying to get around a pick by Giannis Antetokounmpo late in the second quarter on Sunday. He exited with a bloody nose.
Arguably Chicago&rsquo;s best defender, Caruso was limited to 41 games in the regular season after spending his first four years with the Los Angeles Lakers. He missed seven weeks with a broken wrist following a hard foul by the Bucks&rsquo; Grayson Allen during a game in Milwaukee in January.

Alex Caruso took an inadvertent hit to the face from Jevon Carter while trying to get around a pick by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Bulls’ Caruso in concussion protocol ahead of Bucks' Game 5

Milwaukee Bucks guard George Hill isn&rsquo;t expected to return anytime soon from the abdominal strain that has prevented him from playing thus far in their first-round playoff series with the Chicago Bulls.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t expect him in the short term,&rdquo; Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said Wednesday before Game 2.
Budenholzer said this issue is unrelated to the neck injury that caused Hill to miss 17 games earlier in the season. Hill said after returning from that injury that he&rsquo;d been dealing with a partial tear between the sixth and seventh thoracic vertebra in his spine.
According to Budenholzer, the latest injury stems from something that happened in the Bucks&rsquo; April 8 game at Detroit. Hill hasn&rsquo;t played since.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see how he progresses over the next I&rsquo;d say handful of days or more,&rdquo; Budenholzer said.
Hill, 35, played 54 games during the regular season and averaged 6.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 23.2 minutes.
Jevon Carter filled Hill&rsquo;s spot in the rotation the Bucks' 93-86 Game 1 victory and scored three points in 10 minutes.

Bucks guard George Hill isn’t expected to return anytime soon from the abdominal strain that has held him out of the first-round series.

Bucks' George Hill will miss more time due to abdominal strain

DeMar DeRozan scored a career playoff-high 41 points and the Chicago Bulls outlasted the Milwaukee Bucks 114-110 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to tie their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Nikola Vucevic added 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Zach LaVine had 20 points as the Bulls beat the Bucks for just the second time in their last 19 meetings. The series now heads to Chicago for Game 3 on Friday.
The question facing the defending champion Bucks is whether they&rsquo;ll be close to full strength when the series resumes. Bobby Portis left Wednesday&rsquo;s game with a right eye abrasion after the first quarter and Khris Middleton exited with a sore left knee after slipping midway through the fourth quarter.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 33 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, putting him one assist from his second career playoff triple-double. Antetokounmpo increased his career postseason point total to 1,715 to overtake Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,692) for the most in Bucks history.
Brook Lopez had 25 points for the Bucks. Middleton scored 18 and Jrue Holiday 15.
DeRozan scored eight points during a 13-0 run that began late in the third quarter and gave the Bulls a 96-80 lead with 9:47 remaining. The Bulls still led by 15 before Milwaukee rallied in the final 7 &frac12; minutes.
Lopez converted a three-point play to cut Chicago&rsquo;s lead to 112-109 with 56 seconds left. But after Alex Caruso and Vucevic got offensive rebounds on the Bulls&rsquo; ensuing possession, DeRozan&rsquo;s driving layup made it 114-109 with 18.2 seconds remaining.
After facing an early 16-point deficit in Game 1, the Bulls started much faster this time.
The Bucks committed three turnovers in the game&rsquo;s first 49 seconds and four in the first two minutes as the Bulls built an early 9-0 lead. The Bulls were ahead 29-28 at the end of a first quarter that featured six lead changes.
Chicago maintained a narrow lead before closing the second quarter on a 15-4 run to extend the margin to 65-49.
The Bulls extended the lead to 18 early in the third quarter, before the Bucks rallied with a small lineup featuring Antetokounmpo, Middleton and reserve guards Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton and Jevon Carter.
Antetokounmpo led the way as the Bucks went on a 15-2 run to cut the Bulls&rsquo; lead to three late in the third period. But the Bulls responded with 13 straight points and stayed in front the reset of the way.
TIP-INS
Bulls: After shooting a season-low 32.3% and going 7 of 37 from 3-point range in a 93-86 Game 1 loss, the Bulls shot 49.4% and went 12 of 25 from beyond the arc Wednesday. DeRozan, LaVine and Vucevic shot a combined 21 of 71 overall and 4 of 22 from 3-point range in Game 1. They were a combined 33 of 62 overall and 7 of 14 on 3-point attempts in Game 2. ... Caruso had 10 assists to go along with nine points. ... Patrick Williams had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Bucks: George Hill missed a third straight game with an abdominal strain. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before Game 2 that Hill isn&rsquo;t expected back I the short term and that the team will monitor how the 35-year-old Hill guard progresses over the next &ldquo;handful of days or more,&rdquo; ... The Bucks had 15 turnovers to increase their season total to 36.

DeMar DeRozan's 41 points fueled the Chicago Bulls to a win in Game 2 of its series against the Milwaukee Bucks.

DeRozan scores 41 points as Bulls beat Bucks 114-110 to tie series

While the Charlotte Hornets improved their win total by 10 games over last year&rsquo;s abbreviated 72-game season, the end result was the same: an embarrassing blowout loss in the play-in tournament.
Despite winning 43 games, the Hornets finished in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/miami-heat-charlotte-hornets-cleveland-cavaliers-atlanta-hawks-nba-3ecd373854232ff01332ae4f7cdd455b">lost 132-103 on Wednesday night to the Atlanta Hawks</a>. Charlotte lost by 27 points to Indiana in last year's play-in tournament as the 10 seed.
If the Hornets want to end that cycle, it'll have to start with defense.
Charlotte posted its highest offensive rating in franchise history and finished eighth overall in the NBA, but the defense continued to lag behind. Charlotte ranked 22nd in defense among the league&rsquo;s 30 teams.
The loss to the Hawks illustrated the dire need for a rim protector and better man-to-man defense on the perimeter.
&ldquo;We need to become more curious about how to guard," coach James Borrego said. &ldquo;We need to get better defensively by watching the best teams do it and learning from them and watching these (playoff) series.&rdquo;
Miles Bridges agreed with his coach, adding that he'd like to see the Hornets add an inside presence.
&ldquo;We have been saying this for the last few years, we have to get better on defense," Bridges said. "We can't keep saying it. We have to actually make it happen.&rdquo;
BRIDGES' FUTURE
The biggest personnel question heading into the offseason revolves around Bridges' future. He's a restricted free agent who's expected to command big money come July.
Bridges confirmed reports that he turned down a lucrative $60 million contract extension offer from the Hornets last year, hoping to prove he was worth even more with a big season. He did just that, averaging a career-high 20.2 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Borrego admitted he didn't foresee Bridges making this big of a leap.
The Hornets will have the option to match any offer made to Bridges by another team once he becomes a free agent, providing they make him a qualifying offer.
&ldquo;I anticipate him being back with us," Borrego said. "He&rsquo;s a major part of this core, we love him. He&rsquo;s a major part of this franchise.&rdquo;
Said Bridges: &ldquo;I mean I would love to come back, for sure. But I don't even worry about that stuff. I let my agent worry about it.&rdquo;
BALL WILL BE NO. 1
All-Star LaMelo Ball said he expects to be wearing a No. 1 jersey next season instead of the No. 2 he's donned the first two seasons in the league.
Ball petitioned the NBA for a number change, and said he's been told it has been granted.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s supposed to happen,&rdquo; Ball said. &ldquo;I ain&rsquo;t ever supposed to wear No. 2 again. If I see a No. 2 next year, I don&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;m going to do, for real.&rdquo;
Ball took No. 2 coming into the league because Malik Monk was wearing No. 1 for the Hornets at the time. Ball attempted to change numbers last year, but missed the deadline.
Ball said he's always felt &ldquo;weird&rdquo; wearing No. 2.
&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t feel like you&rsquo;re playing for real,&rdquo; Ball said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know who this is. I don&rsquo;t know who No. 2 is.&rdquo;
PLUMLEE'S SHOT
Midway through his ninth NBA season, Hornets center Mason Plumlee abruptly and boldly decided to make a huge shift from free throws and shooting jump shots with his left hand instead of his right hand amid a tremendous slump.
Plumlee said he plans to continue shooting lefthanded next season &mdash; even though he looks extremely awkward doing so.
&ldquo;I'm going to stick with the left,&rdquo; Plumlee said. &ldquo;It feels good. I know the practice shooting is really good. I know it was an in-the-moment thing, but I'm happy with it."
HAYWARD'S STATUS
Gordon Hayward missed 22 games with a sprained ankle before returning for one game late in the season. But that return was cut short after Hayward experienced pain in the same left foot.
It turns out Hayward had a bone chip in the foot that was preventing him from getting back to full speed. He strolled into the press room on Thursday on a knee scooter, his lower left leg in a hard cast.
&ldquo;After talking to the doctors they felt like the best way to get this thing to heal would be to cast it and basically get off of it,&rdquo; Hayward said.
The 32-year-old small forward expects to be ready next season.
BIRD WATCHING
It turns out the Hornets can still have a chance to get a big win in the play-in tournament.
If Pelicans beat the Clippers on Friday night, Charlotte gets New Orleans' first-round draft pick this year (No. 15 overall) as part of the trade that sent Devonte Graham to the Big Easy. If the Pelicans lose, the Hornets get New Orleans' second round picks in 2022 and 2024 instead.

Charlotte posted its highest Offensive Rating in franchise history and finished eighth in the NBA, but the defense continued to lag behind.