NBA Playoffs winners, losers: Jayson Tatum joins elite 50-point company; Julius Randle’s nightmare continues

Friday evening was a wild evening of NBA playoffs basketball. The Hawks beat the Knicks to take a 2-1 lead in that collection, whereas the Clippers and Celtics each prevented 3-0 holes with wins over the Mavericks and Nets, respectively. 

Beneath are the winners and losers from Friday evening’s motion. 

Winner: Jayson Tatum

Tatum went for 50 factors as Boston successfully saved its season alive with a 125-119 win over Brooklyn, which now leads the collection 2-1 heading into Sunday’s Recreation 4. Had the Celtics misplaced Recreation 3, you might’ve just about turned the lights out, the historical past of 3-0 comebacks in that metropolis however. That was baseball. It’s by no means occurred within the NBA. Not even as soon as. 

However the Celtics have an opportunity to even the collection on Sunday now, and so they have Tatum, who struggled mightily via the primary two video games of the collection (9 for 32 from the sphere; 14.5 PPG), to thank. Not precisely dangerous firm to hitch:

To go together with his 50-piece, Tatum added seven assists, six rebounds, two steals and a block. He was 16 of 30 from the sphere, together with 5 of 11 from 3. Maybe most essential, he bought to the free-throw line 15 instances, netting 13. His aggression was there from the beginning. 

As you possibly can see from these highlights, the majority of Tatum’s buckets have been fairly properly contested. The man is only a world-class shotmaker. You are worried about how sustainable this type of isolation/self-created offense is for Boston as an entire, and absolutely Brooklyn nonetheless has management of this collection. However when Tatum has it going like this, the Celtics can beat anybody. 

Paul George and Kawhi Leonard: Winners

The Clippers, just like the Celtics, successfully saved their season alive with a Recreation 3 victory on Friday — 118-108 over the Mavericks, who now lead the collection 2-1. It seemed dicey early on. The Mavericks jumped out to a 30-11 lead. 

“We didn’t have a alternative however to remain sturdy, keep collectively, proceed to combat,” Paul George mentioned after the sport. 

To me, George is the largest winner Friday evening, despite the fact that Leonard — who completed with 36 factors on 13-of-17 capturing — truly performed higher. George has turn out to be the scapegoat for each Clippers collapse; the face of their heretofore postseason failures. It’s not honest, clearly, nevertheless it’s the place we’re, and had the Clippers gone down 3-0 with their sixth straight postseason loss, man, that was going to get ugly for Playoff P. 

However George caught hearth when the Clippers have been in that early gap and wound up with 29 factors on 11 of 18 from the sphere. Kawhi was the person within the second half, nevertheless it was George that bought the Clippers again on this sport with 22 first-half factors on 10-of-12 capturing. It saved the wolves at bay for at the least just a few days. 

If the Clippers go on to lose this collection, the kindling remains to be there if NBA Twitter desires to construct a fireplace with George’s rep. They’ll ignore that he had 28 factors and 12 assists in Recreation 2, and what he did in Recreation 3, and go proper to the truth that he’s simply 5 for 21 from 3 within the collection to this point, and the Clippers’ protection, which is meant to an elite postseason unit particularly due to having star particular person defenders like George, bought torched in Video games 1, 2 and three by Luka Doncic. 

In different phrases, the PG narrative remains to be up within the air. We’ll see how the remainder of the collection goes. However for one evening, George and Leonard have been enormous. The Clippers’ defensive technique of principally single-covering and switching on Doncic labored in that they have been in a position to restrict Dallas’ shooters and just about shut their paint scoring off. (Whereas not sending two utterly to Doncic, the Clippers are shadowing the paint closely, comfortable surrounding him as he probes downhill to allow them to nonetheless, in idea, get well to shooters). It’s onerous to argue with holding the Mavericks to 108 factors when Luka will get 44 himself. We’ve bought a collection. 

Loser: Julius Randle

After a possible All-NBA common season, Randle’s nightmarish postseason continued on Friday with a 2-for-15, 14-point exhibiting in New York’s Recreation 3 loss at Atlanta. The Knicks now path 2-1 within the collection, and if Randle — and R.J. Barrett —  doesn’t get one thing going, it’s onerous to think about how New York can create sufficient offense to maintain up with the Hawks. 

By way of three video games on this collection, Randle is 13 for 54 from the sphere. That’s traditionally dangerous. 

Generally numbers don’t inform the entire story. These ones do. Randle has been terrible after a season during which he seemingly established himself as a legit star in New York. 

Trae Younger: Winner

Younger is stamping his celebrity card in his first postseason. The Hawks took a 2-1 lead over the Knicks on Friday, and Yuong completed with 21 factors and 14 assists. He’s just about unstoppable within the pick-and-roll. He doesn’t end properly together with his left on the rim, which would appear to encourage New York to push him that manner, however he’s not often getting all the way in which to the rim, and his floater (first clip under) and whip passes out to shooters (second clip) are equally lethal going both route. 

Take a look at this group Younger simply entered:

It stays wild that Younger and Luka Doncic have been traded for each other. Each these guys are so nice. It’s loopy that Atlanta wound up with a participant like Younger and nonetheless, in most individuals’s eyes, misplaced that commerce. Luka is simply that particular. However Younger isn’t all that far off, and Atlanta has put a crew round him that may legitimately win and is on observe to at the least the second spherical in the event that they preserve this up. 

Luka Doncic: Winner

I don’t care that Dallas misplaced Recreation 3. Doncic is a winner. The person put up 44 factors on 54-percent capturing, together with 7 of 13 from 3. It’s Doncic’s third 40-point effort in 9 profession playoff video games. For the collection, Doncic is averaging 38 factors, 9 assists and eight.6 rebounds on 46-percent 3-point capturing (he’s made at the least 5 3s in every sport). Add in his exhibiting within the bubble final postseason, and right here’s what you get:

The Clippers, as talked about above, have taken the defensive strategy that they’re going to change choose and rolls and guard Doncic one-on-one for probably the most half, and he’s duly dismantling them. The rationale they’re doing that’s they don’t need the opposite Dallas gamers to get going. 

It labored, to a sure diploma, on Friday. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber mixed to make 8 of their 13 3-pointers, and the Mavericks collectively outscored the Clippers by 21 from the 3-point line. However the Clippers completely shut the paint off and Kristaps Porzingis (who, actually, must be listed as a loser right here) couldn’t hit something and has now been dreadful in two of three video games on this collection. 

The Clippers pressed up onerous on Doncic within the second half. Kawhi Leonard labored to stick with him via screens or with fast switches again. Rajon Rondo utilized some warmth. Terrence Mann did the identical at instances. We’ll see if that’s sufficient because the collection goes on. One thing tells me the Clippers should begin forcing the ball out of Luka’s arms sooner or later with traps and double-teams, however Dallas is loaded with succesful shooters/playmakers who can exploit efficient 4-on-3 benefits. 

That’s the factor to look at shifting ahead. How lengthy will the Clippers proceed to let Doncic homicide one defender? Additionally, take note of Luka’s free-throw capturing. It’s a large number proper now. He’s 13 for 27 within the collection. That’s below 50 %. Towards the top of Recreation 3 he was clearly uncomfortable on the line, pulling the string quick on a number of makes an attempt. You need to determine these video games are going to be shut the remainder of the way in which, and Luka goes to wish to make his free throws sooner or later. 

Kyrie Irving: Loser

Irving made his postseason return to Boston on Friday, and it didn’t go properly for him. The Nets misplaced, and whereas Kevin Durant and James Harden mixed for 80 factors on 13-of-21 3-point capturing, Irving was solely in a position to chip in 16 factors and two assists on 6 for 17 from the sphere. 

We all know the historical past right here. Irving was traded to Boston in 2017. He didn’t play within the postseason his first 12 months there, and Boston made the convention finals with out him. That offseason, at a fair for season-ticket holders, Irving made an announcement — an pointless one, at that — that he supposed to re-sign as a free agent with Boston. That 12 months, he did play within the playoffs and the Celtics misplaced within the second spherical with Irving all however visibly quitting on his crew over the previous couple of video games towards the Bucks. 

Then he left for Brooklyn. 

That is to say nothing of Irving feedback about Celtics followers previous to Recreation 3, when he mentioned he hoped there wasn’t any “refined racism” coming from the Boston crowd. I’m not stepping into any of that. I don’t know what Irving’s expertise in Boston was like. What I do know is there are numerous basketball causes Boston followers don’t like Irving, and absolutely he would’ve favored to return into city in Recreation 3 and put the Celtics to mattress. He didn’t do this. Brooklyn, almost certainly, remains to be going to win this collection, nevertheless it’s now at the least a collection.