The NBA Eastern Conference playoff match-ups were confirmed on Wednesday night. Milwaukee Bucks will face Orlando Magic, while Miami Heat faces Indiana Pacers in the first round, among others in the NBA playoffs starting next week. In the Eastern Conference, the battle for the second seed ended with the Los Angeles teams finishing the seeding games in the top two positions.
Portland TrailBlazers and Memphis Grizzlies will be looking for favourable results and face off in a play-in series, where the 9th seed will have to beat the 8th seed twice. Damian Lillard has been outstanding this season and will be looking to continue his scintillating form into the play-in series and the playoffs.
The East is set and the Western Conference Play-In matchup will be decided in Thursday's action! #WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/5mwAFVpMdP
— NBA (@NBA) August 13, 2020
LA Clippers 124 – 111 Denver Nuggets
LA Clippers beat Denver Nuggets to clinch the second seed in the Western Conference while the Nuggets finish third. The Clippers will now face 7th seed Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, while the Nuggets face 6th seed Utah Jazz.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 53 points on 50 percent shooting. The Nuggets held their own on a near-triple-double from Nikola Jokic and 25 points from Jerami Grant.
Los Angeles took the lead with 10 minutes left on Lou Williams’ jumper and steadily built the advantage to bag a second successive win over the Northwest Division champions.
11 straight games with 20+ points.@kawhileonard matches the third-longest streak of his career. pic.twitter.com/neC0Tn1Xub
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) August 13, 2020
Jerami Grant, who missed Denver’s last game due to injury, led the Nuggets with 25 points. It was the third time in the last four games that Grant went for 20 or more points.
Nikola Jokic finished with 17 points and 13 assists but sat much of the fourth quarter as coach Mike Malone chose to rest many of his top-line players before the playoffs.
Nuggets fans criticised Michael Porter Jr.s’ lack of playing time all season. Porter, like many rookies, has struggled in defensive and his impressive offensive form recently doesn’t change that. He was exposed on that end tonight, falling for an obvious Lou Williams fake and getting beaten easily by the experienced players of the Clippers.
The Clippers showed a clear separation between them and the No. 3-seeded Nuggets who played without forwarding Will Barton and guard Gary Harris, who were both out with minor injuries.
The Clippers look to be a dangerous team in the Western Conference and with the talent in their roster could easily challenge for the NBA title this season in the Orlando bubble.
Other NBA Results of the Day :
Oklahoma City Thunder 116 – 115 Miami Heat
Houston Rockets 104 – 108 Indiana Pacers
Philadelphia 76ers 121 – 125 Toronto Raptors
ALSO READ :
