Donovan Mitchell got the best of the Warriors and Draymond Green, collecting 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists on a night Green was ejected in a 118-110 win over Golden State on Saturday.
Green was tossed at the 6:23 mark of the third quarter with eight points, five rebounds and four assists.
Green pushed Mitchell with his shoulder and sent him out of bounds as Cleveland’s Caris LeVert drove for a layup. Moments later, Green was bringing the ball up court and Mitchell chased him down and instigated a heated altercation.
LeVert scored 22 points, Darius Garland had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals and Evan Mobley had 19 points and two of his team’s season-high 13 steals.
Stephen Curry scored 30 points to lead Golden State, which lost both matchups this season with Cleveland.
Short-handed Heat handle Hawks
Bam Adebayo had 26 points with 17 rebounds and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added a career-high 20 points to lead the depleted Miami Heat to their fourth straight win, 117-109 over the Atlanta Hawks.
Kyle Lowry scored 17 points, Josh Richardson had 16 and Duncan Robinson contributed 11 in his first start of the season.
Miami played without two of its top three scorers, with Tyler Herro (sprained right ankle) missing his first game and Jimmy Butler absent for personal reasons.
Trae Young led the Hawks with 27 points and 11 assists, while Dejounte Murray scored 23.
The Hawks hung around and were within 115-109 after Young made two free throws with 51 seconds left, but Lowry sank a pair from the line and Young missed a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left.
Magic end 14-game losing streak to Bucks
Paolo Banchero tallied 26 points and 12 rebounds and the Orlando Magic snapped a string of 14 consecutive losses to the Milwaukee Bucks with a 112-97 victory.
Franz Wagner scored 24 points and Mo Wagner added 19 off the bench for Orlando, which defeated Milwaukee at home for the first time since March 14, 2018.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Bucks played their second straight game without Damian Lillard (sore left calf).
New Phoenix boss Budenholzer would coach Suns 'if it was on the moon'
Mike Budenholzer admitted he would coach the Phoenix Suns, even if the team "was on the moon".
The two-time NBA Coach of the Year, who guided the Milwaukee Bucks to the title in 2021, was named Frank Vogel's successor at Footprint Center last week.
Arizona-born Budenholzer returns to his hometown after taking the 2023-24 season out, having previously enjoyed five-year stints with the Bucks and Atlanta Hawks.
The 54-year-old has only missed out on the postseason once in his 10 previous NBA campaign, guiding his teams to six division titles and entering the playoffs as top seeds on four occasions.
Budenholzer now hopes to achieve something similar with the Suns, who endured a disappointing season under Vogel, which culminated in a 4-0 first-round series defeat by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"It's mind-boggling to me, like mind-blowing, to think that I'm going to be the head coach of the Phoenix Suns," he told reporters during his introductory news conference.
"I'm excited about working with this roster and these players. We have great players and, with great players, comes great expectations. I think we embrace that.
"The biggest message I want you to hear is that I would coach this team if it was on the moon. I would coach this team if it was in Alaska, if these players were in Denmark. I would go anywhere to coach this team."
'We played harder' – Carlisle proud of Pacers' efforts after Indiana force Game 7
Rick Carlisle hailed the efforts of his Indiana Pacers players after they forced their playoff series with the New York Knicks to Game 7.
Carlisle challenged his players directly in the wake of their loss in Game 5, which put them 3-2 down in the series.
And the Pacers responded with a fine display in a 116-103 victory, which sees the series go down to the wire, with Game 7 set for Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
"It was just activity. We played harder tonight, which was a must," Carlisle said.
"We moved the ball better and we got more rebounds, and that's obviously a big key to the series.
"We gotta brace for Sunday. And we must be ready."
Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points and nine assists for the Pacers, and said: "Coaches challenged our effort, I think that was the biggest thing.
"We had some boneheaded things happen [in Game 5].
"He [Carlisle] just really challenged our group [players] 1-15 on how can we be better."
Jalen Brunson finished with 31 points for the Knicks, but he was not overly impressed by his own performance.
"They try to make things difficult," Brunson said. "And I have to adjust as well. Show me different looks and I have to do a better job of reading it."
NBA: Siakam leads Pacers past Knicks to force Game 7 in East semifinals
Pascal Siakam scored 25 points and Myles Turner added 17 as the Indiana Pacers rolled to a 116-103 victory over the New York Knicks to force Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday.
Andrew Nembhard, Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell each added 15 points, with Nembhard grabbing six rebounds and handing out six assists. Haliburton had nine assists as the Pacers remained perfect in six home games in this postseason.
The winner of Game 7 in New York on Sunday will advance to face the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
Jalen Bruson scored 31 points on 11-of-26 shooting after missing his final 11 shots in the first half. Deuce McBride added 20 points with four 3-pointers as the Knicks fell to 0-3 on the road in this series.
Already decimated by injuries, the Knicks lost starting forward Josh Hart in the fourth quarter due to abdominal soreness.
Hart was seen holding his midsection multiple times during the game and asked to be taken out after he had five points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes.
New York is already without All-Star Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic.
Indiana used a 14-6 run in the third quarter to take control, turning a 61-56 lead into a 75-62 advantage. The Pacers maintained at least a 10-point edge the rest of the way.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
