Atlanta Hawks coach Quin Snyder applauded Trae Young for finding his "rhythm" after a wretched run to inspire Friday's win over the Boston Celtics.
The Hawks won their Eastern Conference first-round Game 3 clash 130-122 to prevent Boston going 3-0 ahead, which would have left them needing just one more win for a series sweep.
Young had previously shot a combined of 14-of-40 (35 per cent) from the field across the first two games of the series.
But on Friday he scored a team-high 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting, adding nine assists, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal, while his All-Star backcourt teammate Dejounte Murray chipped in 25 points (11-of-21 shooting), six rebounds and five assists.
Although it was arguably the Hawks' bench who got them over the line – with Onyeka Okongwu, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson and Bogdan Bogdanovic combining to shoot 16-of-22 (72.7 per cent) from the field for 44 points – much of the post-game focus was on Young and Murray, who finally seemed to flourish together.
Young in particular has had a difficult time of it, especially in the playoffs – for Snyder, there was an element of just sitting back and letting things unfold as the two-time All-Star and Murray took matters into their own hands.
"First of all, [it was] kind of figuring out what they were thinking together playing off each other," Snyder said when asked about Young and Murray's on-court chatter.
"At one point, I was like, I should just be quiet. Usually when that's happening, as a coach, if you feel that and you respect those guys and they are communicating like that and if they're on the same page, people will play off of them. That's what happened us.
"That's when we're going to be playing our best basketball."
That certainly seemed the case on Friday, with the hard work appearing to pay off for Young.
"Those two guys, over the course of the game, not just with the other guys on the team, but with one another, were connecting and pushing one another," Snyder added.
"You could tell [Young] found a rhythm, and it was good to see that because he's been working on it. He's been watching [film] and trying to figure out how he can attack somebody.
"The message, as much as anything for him and the whole group, is just to stay aggressive and trying to make the right play.
"[Young] got a little down when he turned it over one time and he was shaking his head, and I just said, 'Let’s get to the next play.' I don't want him thinking about what just happened. Every mistake can make you better if you just process it the right way. You can tell he found his rhythm tonight."
Murray was in no doubt about it being his and Young's best performance as a duo.
"Absolutely. I don't want to talk about Boston a lot but I look at Jayson [Tatum] and Jaylen [Brown] a lot, two guys who were going through it a lot, just to get to the level they're at. Great things don't happen overnight. Great things take time."
Young seemingly disagreed to an extent but acknowledged there being a timeliness to his and Murray's link-up.
"You don't want to live in the moment too much," he said. "I mean, we won a game in the playoffs, it's big, but we've had some really good games together.
"I don't consider this our best game together. It's definitely one of them, but it came at the right time and we needed it."
The Hawks can level the series with a win in Game 4 on Sunday.
Timberwolves demolish Nuggets to force Game 7
The Minnesota Timberwolves needed a win to keep their season alive.
They proceeded to obliterate the Denver Nuggets.
The Timberwolves rode a 20-0 run in the first quarter en route to a 115-70 thrashing of the Nuggets on Thursday to force a Game 7 in their Western Conference semi-final series.
Anthony Edwards led the way with 27 points and Jaden McDaniels added 21 on 8-of-10 shooting as Minnesota recorded the second-largest play-off win in NBA history when facing elimination.
The Wolves led by as much as 50 to send the series back to Denver on Sunday with a berth in the West finals on the line.
After winning the first two games of the series in Denver, Minnesota suddenly found itself on the brink of elimination after losing Games 3 and 4 on its home court and Tuesday's 112-97 defeat back in Denver.
The Timberwolves then trailed 9-2 early in Game 6 before turning the tables on the Nuggets.
They scored the next 20 points and went on a 27-2 run on their way to taking a 31-14 lead after the first 12 minutes.
Edwards sparked the first-quarter surge, racking up 14 points in the opening period after scoring 18 total points in Game 5.
The Wolves clamped down defensively and dominated the boards to turn Game 6 into a laugher.
Minnesota limited Denver to just 7-of-36 shooting from 3-point range (19.4 per cent) and held a 62-43 advantage on the glass, with big men Rudy Gobert (14), Karl-Anthony Towns (13) and Naz Reid (11) combining for 38 boards.
NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 22 points and nine rebounds for the defending champions, but Jamal Murray struggled mightily from the floor, making just 4-of-18 shots and finishing with 10 points.
Mike Conley returned after missing Game 5 because of soreness in his right Achilles tendon, and finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
The Timberwolves opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to open up a 30-point lead, prompting the Nuggets to empty their bench just over two minutes into the final period.
Less than 90 seconds later, that lead grew to 36 points and Minnesota took out its starters.
The Wolves bench picked up right where the starters left off to finish off a 24-0 run as the lead ballooned to 50.
Leeds United 4-0 Norwich City (4-0 agg): Whites book Wembley spot in emphatic fashion
Leeds United thumped Norwich City 4-0 in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final to seal their place at Wembley.
After a goalless draw in the first leg left it all to play for at Elland Road on Thursday, Leeds turned on the style in front of a raucous home crowd to cruise into the final on May 26.
Ilia Gruev settled the majority of Elland Road's nerves with just seven minutes played as he caught out Angus Gunn with a long-range free-kick, curling into the space vacated by the Norwich goalkeeper's expectation of a cross.
Joel Piroe then doubled the hosts' advantage 13 minutes later, again capitalising on poor goalkeeping to beat Gunn to Wilfried Gnonto's cross and nod home.
The tie was effectively over five minutes from half-time, Georginio Rutter getting on the end of Crysencio Summerville's squared pass to rifle off the underside of the crossbar and in.
And after Gunn spilled Gnonto's low shot in the second half, Rutter cut the ball back for Summerville to poke home and secure Leeds' place in next Sunday's final, where they will meet either Southampton or West Brom.
Data debrief
Leeds may have looked pretty blunt in attack at Carrow Road, but that was far from the case on home soil as they put the Canaries to the sword in brutal fashion while keeping a 21st Championship clean sheet this season, more than any other side.
Daniel Farke's men produced 2.45 xG (expected goals) to Norwich's 0.51, while Summerville made it 20 league goals for the season, more than any other Leeds player.
Mavs coach Kidd: Doncic is 'not a robot'
Jason Kidd reminded the media that Luka Doncic is "not a robot" after the Dallas Mavericks star turned in a peculiar display against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Doncic delivered his best performance of the playoffs on Wednesday, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a 104-92 victory.
The Mavericks are now just one win away from the Western Conference finals.
But what was different about Doncic's night was the fact he rarely remonstrated with the officials, having previously expanded a lot of energy doing just that in Game 4 of the series.
"He's human; he's not a robot," Kidd said.
"Sometimes we just pencil in that he's going to put in 30, 10 and 10. You know the playoffs are hard mentally and physically.
"Before the game, understand you are not going to get any calls on the road. You got to understand you got to play through it."
For Doncic, it was a case of just focusing on what he could control.
"Just focus on basketball," Doncic said. "Remember the thing I love, the thing I love to do. Just play basketball.
"I talked to them [the officials] normally, without complaining.
"I think it was the whole game, nothing. So I just go out there and hoop. Have fun, have fun. It was the old Luka, a smile on my face."
Doncic's teammate Derrick Jones Jr suggested the Slovenian's sharpness in the warm-up told him all he needed to know about what was to come.
"I was just sitting back saying, 'It's going to be a long day for them,'" Jones said.
"Once he gets his rhythm and he's got it going, you can't stop him."
Kyrie Irving believes Doncic can take lessons from his Game 5 performance.
"I think he can learn from this tonight as well as all of us and just continue to affirm to himself that when he is focused on just his game and he's focused on doing the right things, then we flourish as a team," he said.
"I'm not going to sit up here and complain about him. I'm not going to do that.
"I've got to give my brother a little benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it is warranted to get on the guys that are refereeing the game, but I think he found a healthy balance tonight where he was just really focused on getting us going offensively and making the right plays and making sure that we kept our foot on the gas pedal."
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