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Cameron Johnson struggled with his shot on Tuesday night, but came up with a big driving dunk in the final two minutes to ignite a key 8–0 run in the Phoenix Suns’ 112–97 Game 5 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. Phoenix takes a 3–2 lead in their first-round series heading to New Orleans for Game 6 Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (TNT).
Danny Green played his best game of these NBA playoffs and moved up the all-time playoffs 3-pointers list but it wasn’t nearly enough for his Philadelphia 76ers to close out the Toronto Raptors. Reggie Bullock had a good all-around game before being ejected in a skirmish as his Dallas Mavericks moved one win away from winning their series with the Utah Jazz. In 25 minutes, Green collected 14 points, four rebounds and two steals in the Sixers’ 103–88 Game 5 loss at home to the Raptors. Philadelphia still leads the first-round series 3–2, and gets another chance to win the series when it resumes in Toronto at 7 p.m. Thursday.
With Luka Dončić (calf injury) out for the first three games of their first-round series with the Utah Jazz, Reggie Bullock has produced the best playoff efforts of his career for the Dallas Mavericks. Bullock collected 12 points, six rebounds and three assists and in 44 minutes Thursday as the Mavericks won Game 3 of their first-round series with the Jazz 126–118 in Utah to take a 2–1 lead. He has three 3-pointers in each of the three games.
Danny Green always shows passion during games and that almost got him ejected Wednesday night as his Philadelphia 76ers took a commanding 3–0 first-round series lead on the Toronto Raptors. Late in the first half of the Sixers’ 104–101 overtime win Wednesday in Toronto, he got called for a questionable foul as he was positioning himself for a rebound. He protested the call to a referee and got whistled for a technical foul. This made Green even more upset and, if not for teammate Tyrese Maxey, then James Harden and Joel Embiid holding him back, he might have been ejected.
Reggie Bullock and Danny Green each scored 11 points and played big minutes as their teams won Game 2 first-round playoff games Monday night. The win for Bullock’s Dallas Mavericks, a 110–104 home triumph over the Utah Jazz, was huge because it evened the series at 1 as it shifts Thursday for the first of two games in Utah.
The Phoenix Suns, who had the league’s best record during the regular season, had no problem with the New Orleans Pelicans in their playoff opener, highlighted by Cam Johnson’s thunderous, highlight-reel first-quarter dunk. Johnson, a finalist for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, came off the bench to score 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting as the No. 1-seed Suns beat the No. 8-seed Pelicans 110–98 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference series.
Seven Tar Heels, and potentially an eighth, will begin play in the NBA playoffs this weekend. Cameron Johnson’s Phoenix Suns are a solid threat to win the title and the Dallas Mavericks, with Reggie Bullock and Theo Pinson, are playing like they could make a long run. Joining them in the playoffs are Danny Green of the Philadelphia 76ers, Coby White and Tony Bradley of the Chicago Bulls and Day’Ron Sharpe of the Brooklyn Nets.
Although it’s been a tough season for Theo Pinson personally, playing sparingly and then battling an injury the last couple of months, his Dallas Mavericks have thrived. His regular season ended impressively, though, with a perfect shooting night, scoring a season-high 16 points in the Mavericks’ regular-season-ending 130–120 home win Sunday over the San Antonio Spurs.
If the Chicago Bulls are going to turn things around and be successful in the playoffs, Coby White will be a big part of it with Lonzo Ball out for the season. Back in the starting lineup, he did what he could Friday with 19 points, a season-high-tying six 3-pointers and four assists, but the host Bulls lost to the Charlotte Hornets 133–117 for their fourth consecutive loss.
Even though his Philadelphia 76ers lost, it was a special night for Danny Green. He finally got his third championship ring 1,029 days after he helped the Toronto Raptors win the 2019 NBA title. After being awarded the ring before the game, Green scored 18 points and six 3-pointers, both season-highs, in the Sixers’ 119–114 road loss to the Raptors.
Justin Jackson scored 24 points Tuesday night to lead the Texas Legends to a 115–110 victory over the Birmingham Squadron in the first round of the G League playoffs for the first postseason win in franchise history. The Legends, the No. 5-seed in the Western Conference, were the only road team to win a first-round game. They knocked off the No. 4-seed Squadron, the affiliate of the New Orleans Pelicans.
On the same night that Carolina beat Duke at the Final Four, Justin Jackson had a monster G League double-double in Texas. Jackson collected 39 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes in his Texas Legends’ 106–99 home win Saturday over the Austin Spurs, their regular-season finale.
NEW ORLEANS — George Karl, one of the finest playmakers in Carolina basketball history, left Chapel Hill with so many fabulous career memories but never had had a cherished spot in the Smith Center rafters. That will change after Saturday. He is one of the Class of 2022 inductees into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame announced Saturday. Karl will become the 12th Tar Heel to be inducted, including his coach in Chapel Hill, the legendary Dean Smith, in a ceremony Sept. 9 in Springfield, Mass.
It was a wildly successful week in Houston for Harrison Barnes and the Sacramento Kings. After scoring 13 points in the Kings’ 121–118 road win over the Rockets on Wednesday, he collected 25 points, and three assists in Sacramento’s 122–117 victory on Friday for the team’s fourth win in five games. The Kings (29–49) are 3½ games out of a spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament and 2½ games behind the Los Angeles Lakers.
Reggie Bullock is playing his best basketball in two months, and that’s helped the Dallas Mavericks win four of their last five games. Bullock scored 17 points on 5 of 8 shooting from 3-point range Tuesday night as the host Mavericks blew out the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 128–110. Los Angeles was without LeBron James (ankle issue) and Anthony Davis (foot sprain).
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