A trio of Game 6’s aired Friday night, as the 2014 NBA playoffs continued with full unmitigated force.
The Toronto Raptors traveled south for a matchup with the Brooklyn Nets, while the San Antonio Spurs made the quick in-state trip for their head to head with the Dallas Mavericks. And the Portland Trail Blazers closed out their series with the Houston Rockets in a playoff contest for the ages.
The other four will hope for the same for their respective clubs on Sunday.
As for tonight’s games, let’s get to the recaps.
Brooklyn 97, Toronto 83
Wait, so no come-from-behind history-makers this time around?
After roaring back from 26 down but coming up just short in Game 5, the Nets generated an early double-digit lead and never looked back, winning 97-83 at the Barclays Center.
Joe Johnson scored the first two points, and after Kyle Lowry tied at 2, Kevin Garnett’s free throw put Brooklyn ahead for good.
The Nets orchestrated a balanced offensive attack throughout. Seven different players scored in the opening frame en route to a 15-point advantage. Two more added to the scoring output in the following quarter, as the home squad was up 19 at half.
Point guard Deron Williams contributed eight of his team-high 23 points in the third quarter. The Raptors as a whole scored a game-low 19 and entered the fourth quarter down by a cool 20 points.
Backcourt duo DeMar DeRozan and Greivis Vasquez breathed life into Toronto with a combined 11 points in the concluding frame. Lowry’s driving layup then trimmed the deficit to a manageable 10 with 2:48 remaining.
But the Raptors went fatally cold down the stretch. They missed their next three shots and Williams’ three essentially iced things with just over one minute left on the clock.
DeRozan was really the only one who showed up for a Toronto club that shot below 40 percent all told. His game-high 28 PTS—not to mention 6 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL and 10-of-11 from the line—was the only relevant development from the team north of the border.
Aside from Williams’ leading totals, the veteran trio of Johnson, Garnett and Paul Pierce held up their end of the bargain with a collective 42 PTS, 11 REB, 6 AST, 3 STL and 3 BLK. Brooklyn dominated the Raptors in the paint by a 48-32 margin, with a rejuvenated Andray Blatche replacing Mason Plumlee in the interior.
The series concludes Sunday in Toronto with a sure-to-be grind-it-out Game 7.
Dallas 113, San Antonio 111
From the outside looking in, there isn’t a person out there who could differentiate between the highest and lowest seeds in this epic Western Conference series.
The No. 8 Mavericks and top-ranked Spurs once again battled to the final buzzer, with Dallas holding on this time around for a 113-111 victory in Game 6.
This rivalry-fueled contest began with a showcase of total offensive efficiency. Both teams made a combined 15-of-20 shots through the first half of the opening frame.
It cooled down somewhat thereafter, as the home squad pulled away by an eight-point margin behind Dirk Nowitzki’s jumper and Devin Harris’ two free throws.
San Antonio matched its 26-point first-quarter total in the second, while also forcing the Mavericks 10 points below their initial output. Tim Duncan led the Spurs on both ends of the floor with 6 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST and 1 BLK.
The 38-year-old future Hall-of-Famer continued with his scoring production in the third quarter. His eight points early on helped erase Dallas’ lead. The ever-underrated big man Tiago Splitter scored six of his own, including a layup that put the Spurs ahead 81-76 after three.
But true to series form, this hardwood battle ended with its usual fantastic back-and-forth between both clubs.
While Vince Carter kept chipping away, Tony Parker continually answered, maintaining San Antonio’s lead until the 5:05 mark. Then, on the ensuing possession, Mavericks’ scoring leader Monta Ellis electrified the crowd with a go-ahead three.
Former Spurs frontline member DeJuan Blair completed a three-point play shortly thereafter. Ellis added one of his own, not to mention a jumper that stretched Dallas’ lead to 102-94 with 2:59 left.
Following a Gregg Popovich timeout, Boris Diaw knocked down an immediate three. After fellow international veteran Manu Ginobili hit two from the charity stripe, Parker followed with his patented scoring mastery inside the paint.
His six-straight points cut the deficit to just 106-105.
Despite a brief period of three-point insanity by Danny Green and Patty Mills, Dallas connected on enough of its free throws down the stretch.
Carter, Blair and Ellis each made two before Mills’ final attempt from distance fell short.
All four Spurs starters scored in double figures. Parker led the way with 22 PTS and 6 AST. Splitter added 19 PTS and went 11-of-12 from the line, while Green was a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor en route to his 17 PTS.
Ellis and Nowitzki powered the Mavs with 29 and 22 PTS, respectively. Blair contributed a pivotal 10 PTS, 14 REB and 4 STL off the bench. And Carter threw in 13 PTS, 6 REB and 2 AST for good measure.
Per that previously mentioned offensive efficiency, both Texas-based squads shot over 50 percent from the field.
Game 7 of this heated Lone Star matchup will air Sunday in San Antonio.
Portland 99, Houston 98
Wow—is there any other possible way to convey what just happened?
Shortage of evocative descriptors notwithstanding, the Blazers advanced to Round 2 in legendary last-second fashion, beating the Rockets 99-98 on Friday night.
As for how it got there, we’ll keep the recap of the preceding events to a minimum.
Houston and Portland each matched its own scoring output through the first two quarters. The Rockets 29-28 advantage both times gave the visiting team a two-point lead at half.
James Harden hit all four of his threes and scored 25 of his total 34 points. Teammate Chandler Parsons did his best foreshadowing routine by contributing all but two of his 16 points (more on this later).
Matching individual scoring totals were Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard. The former notched 21 of his team-leading 30 points, while the Blazers floor general compiled 14 of his 25 points over the opening frames.
Rockets big man Dwight Howard then took over in the second half. He racked up 17 of his 26 points, including 13 of his team’s final 15 points in the fourth quarter. He also grabbed six of his 11 rebounds during that stretch.
Aldridge and Lillard once again paced the Blazers. Their collective 17 points in the third quarter uplifted the home team to within just one point of the lead at 79-78.
Then the more unheralded supporting cast for Portland made its presence felt.
Defensive-minded role player Thomas Robinson scored four quick points off the bench. Dirty-work center Robin Lopez offered up 8 PTS, 3 REB and 1 BLK. And point-forward Nicolas Batum added 5 PTS, 1 REB and 1 AST, most notably tying the game at 96 with just 0:39 seconds left.
Of course, the little remaining time is what elevated this game into postseason lore.
After Harden’s step-back jumper fell short at the 0:04 mark, absolute and total madness ensued.
The ball touched multiple hands, as players from both teams failed to secure the rebound. Lopez briefly had possession, but coughed it up while attempting a relay to one of his teammates as he fell out of bounds.
Then, as miraculous luck would have it, the ball fell right into Parsons’ mitts. He completed the easy put-back amidst a sea of jerseys, giving the Rockets a 98-96 lead with an effectively non-existent 0.9 seconds left.
Oh, but we’re not done just yet.
Following consecutive 20-second timeouts by both head coaches, Batum inbounded the ball in the frontcourt. Lillard sped around two great screens by Wesley Matthews and Mo Williams, catching the ball from Batum in stride.
And with a hand in his face and only two-tenths of a second worth of game-winning time left, he drilled a step-back three from 25 feet as the clock struck zero.
Portland 99, Houston 98.
The Blazers now move on to the second round for the first time since 2000—thanks of course to the heroics of one Damian Lillard.
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