The first round of the NBA playoffs continues today with three Game 6s, with the Pacers, Wizards and Thunder all in must-win situations. Follow along here for the latest analysis and commentary from The Post's NBA reporter Tim Bontemps, and ask him questions in the comments section. Catch up on last night's games here.
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The Indiana Pacers have arguably been the better team in all six games in their first round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They were unquestionably the better team in Game 6. That's why there will be a Game 7 in this series Sunday afternoon.
Victor Oladipo had a triple-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, bouncing back from three straight subpar games, to lead the Pacers to a 121-85 demolition of the Cavaliers, sending LeBron James to an elimination game in the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his illustrious career with the largest margin of victory in Pacers playoff history.
"Leave it all out there," Oladipo said of Game 7. "Win or go home. It speaks for itself."
James, who caught an elbow from Thaddeus Young in the face that left him bloodied late in the first half, had 22 points, five rebounds and seven assists in 31 minutes, but understandably sat out the entire fourth quarter as Cleveland Coach Tyronn Lue reasonably chose to live to fight another day as the Cavaliers found themselves trailing by 25 points after three.
Indiana did just about everything right. It shot 56.3 percent from the field, 50 percent (15-for-30) from three-point range, and converted 15 Cleveland turnovers into a ridiculous 29 points, while the Pacers turned the ball over only seven times.
Jeff Green and Rodney Hood had 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Cleveland, which didn't give James much support. Outside of James going 3-for-6 from three, Cleveland was 12-for-38 from three-point range. That simply isn't going to get it done for a team that relies so heavily on its offense.
That's why this series will go to a seventh game Sunday, when we'll see if the Cavaliers can put up a better effort with a second shot at closing this series out.
If they can't, LeBron James will see his season end far sooner than anyone could've expected.
Donovan Mitchell and Russell Westbrook took turns throwing haymakers in the third quarter, setting the stage for a thrilling final 12 minutes of Game 6.
Mitchell now has 32 points – including 22 in the third quarter alone – to stake Utah to a 78-70 lead. Westbrook, meanwhile, has 35 points – including 20 in the third quarter – while Steven Adams (15) is the only other Thunder player in double-figures.
Paul George has five points on 2-for-11 shooting, and also has five turnovers for the Thunder. Joe Ingles has 12 points and Derrick Favors 11 for the Jazz.
Now, after the Jazz blew a 25-point lead in the second half of Game 5, they'll try to close this series out here in Game 6.
Carmelo Anthony has finally gone to the bench.
If Oklahoma City wants to win this game, he needs to stay there.
Anthony has become a liability at both ends. He isn't a great spot-up shooter offensively, which is essentially what he is in this Oklahoma City offense. Defensively, meanwhile, Anthony is a disaster, and the Jazz have taken advantage of him at every opportunity.
Anthony is a minus-15 in this game. The next worse plus-minus for anyone on either team is worse than minus-10.
The Jazz may have this game in the bag anyway. But if the Thunder want to have a chance, Anthony should stay on the bench for the duration.
As the Rookie of the Year race between Donovan Mitchell and Ben Simmons has heatedup over the past couple of months, the eligibility of Simmons – who missed all of last season with an injury – has been up for debate.
But the way Mitchell is playing against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a closeout game, perhaps he is the one who isn't a rookie.
Ten straight points for Mitchell to start the second half – and 12 straight going back to the final bucket of the first – has put Utah in front with a five-point lead early in the third quarter. It's been a remarkable turnaround after the Jazz looked completely lost offensively for much of the first half.
The fact it's been created by a rookie is even more remarkable.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz are tied at 41 at halftime of Game 6, but the biggest development of the game might be Steven Adams picking up his third foul late in the second quarter.
Adams has been a one-man wrecking crew in the paint in this game, with nine points and seven rebounds. But Utah has won the games in this series that Adams has gotten into foul trouble, and any tentativeness from him in the second will play heavily into Utah's hands.
With Ricky Rubio out for the rest of the game, the Jazz are going to need a lot from rookie Donovan Mitchell and swingman Joe Ingles, and both delivered late in the half. Mitchell tied the game with a beautiful move in the lane, and leads Utah with 10 points, while Ingles has nine after hitting two big late threes.
One thing Utah needs to change: it has to stop turning the ball over. Ten turnovers have become 14 points for Oklahoma City – and in a game this close, that needs to cut down in the second half.
The Utah Jazz are in trouble.
Coming into Game 6, the Jazz were heavy favorites to win against the Oklahoma City Thunder and close out this series. But that was before Ricky Rubio was lost to an injury, and the game turned into a knockdown, drag-out fight on every single possession.
While the Thunder have continued to play Carmelo Anthony, who remains ineffective at both ends, Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Steven Adams have dominated the action at both ends so far.
If it continues that way, the Jazz could be staring at Game 7 back in Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon.
The Utah Jazz suffered a huge blow to their chances of ending their first round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night when Ricky Rubio was lost for the game with a hamstring injury in the first quarter.
On a team with a limited number of shot creators as it is, the loss of Rubio – who also is an excellent defensive player – is the last thing Utah needed.
Oklahoma City ended the first quarter with a 22-18 lead, as both teams struggled to get much offense going.
"We did a pretty good job," Thunder Coach Billy Donovan said of his defense. "We fouled a little bit too much.
"But we've got to do a better job offensively."
The Jazz would certainly agree, having already missed five threes and shooting just 7-for-18 from the field.
Game 6 of Thunder-Jazz should come down to one question: does Rudy Gobert stay out of foul trouble?
If he does, the Jazz should win easily. If he doesn't, the Thunder will have a real chance to send this series back to Oklahoma City for a Game 7 on Sunday afternoon.
Gobert, the likely winner of this year's Defensive Player of the Year award, has made Utah's defense eight points better per 100 possessions during the opening five games of the series, and it was his absence from the game in the second half of Game 5 after picking up a phantom fourth foul and a dumb fifth one that allowed Oklahoma City to begin gaining momentum for its 25-point comeback.
If Gobert was in the game, that run likely doesn't happen. If he stays in this game, Utah should win going away.
With LeBron James going to the bench with the Cavaliers trailing by 25 points after three quarters, it seems unlikely he will return.
And, as Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon points out, there is no reason he should.
If the Utah Jazz win Game 6 of their series later tonight, they will play the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time Sunday afternoon, and the Cavaliers and Pacers will play Game 7 at 1 p.m.
Every second of rest between now and then that James can get is crucial. That should begin now.
The Washington Wizards have a starting lineup that can go toe-to-toe with just about any fivesome in the NBA.
They are done for the season because their bench couldn't stack up with Toronto's.
With Fred VanVleet finally back in action for the Raptors, the bench depth advantage the Raptors had all season finally returned. The result was Toronto's second-unit outscoring Washington's 34-20 in a game the Raptors won 102-92 to end the Wizards' playoff run in six games.
Toronto has had the best bench unit in the league this season, and it's the reason the Raptors snapped a streak of 23 straight road playoff losses in games when they trailed at halftime. DeMar DeRozan wasn't even good (going 6-for-18 and scoring 16 points) and John Wall and Bradley Beal combined for 55 points, though they also had 10 turnovers.
While Kyle Lowry was great, it was the rest of Toronto's roster that outplayed Washington and sent the Wizards home for the summer.
The Indiana Pacers are 24 minutes away from Game 7.
A strong first half from Victor Oladipo, who has 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting after going 12-for-50 the prior three games combined, has Indiana leading 57-47 at halftime in Indianapolis.
Remarkably, Cleveland's nine turnovers have become an astounding 18 points for Indiana. Giving up two points per turnover is virtually impossible to overcome and something the Cavaliers have to change in the second half.
LeBron James has 14 points and five assists for Cleveland, but the rest of the Cavaliers have struggled outside of some early shot-making by J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver. And, once again, any game where Indiana and Cleveland has the same number of three-pointers made – both have six at halftime – that is a win for the Pacers.
Late in the first half, LeBron James drove to the rim and caught an inadvertent elbow from Thaddeus Young.
It left James with blood streaming down his face.
It's the latest moment in a half that hasn't gone well for Cleveland, which trails 51-
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