The Philadelphia 76ers had reason to celebrate after Saturday's victory over the Charlotte Hornets and Nick Nurse's side will have further joy incoming as Joel Embiid continues his recovery from injury.
Center Embiid was forced into meniscus surgery for a left knee issue at the end of January but Nurse suggested his star man could return before the NBA playoffs.
"I'm still hoping so and pretty confident, yes," the 76ers coach said when asked if Embiid would feature in the postseason.
"I think there's always stages of how these things progress. Everyone wants to know 'Well how long is it going to be?'
"And they give a wide range because of that because everyone heals differently. We're just trying to take it as it comes, get him healthy and get him back when he's ready to go."
Embiid has missed 21 games since tearing his meniscus against the Golden State Warriors, with the 76ers slipping down from third to eighth in the Eastern Conference.
The 76ers man was at least in attendance as Philadelphia downed the Hornets 109-98, with that victory coming after Embiid offered a boost when returning to on-court training.
"He looked pretty good to me," said Cam Payne. "For my first time seeing him, he looked pretty good, man. He attracts a lot of attention out here. So it's probably going to make our job a little bit easier."
Against Charlotte, Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. added 22 as the 76ers withstood a fourth-quarter comeback for victory.
Buddy Hield also had 14 points and Paul Reed contributed 11, though the 76ers are still 8-13 without key player Embiid.
"I thought Buddy kept us going there for stretches in the second half," Nurse said. "He got some good spots and got some good looks.
"We only scored 109 points, but I thought the offense was really good."
Charlotte have now lost six straight to Philadelphia, though coach Steve Clifford was not too disheartened.
"We were right there with three and a half minutes left," Hornets coach Clifford said.
"We had a couple blown sets where we got a little disorganized there, but we got back into the game and I would say that we played well for about 43 minutes.
"The second quarter, we had a couple of minutes there where the ball didn't hit the paint and we took a couple of OK shots and put a lot of pressure on the defense."
Jokic salutes 'special' Edwards after influential Game 1 display
Nikola Jokic paid tribute to "special player" Anthony Edwards following the Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard's influential display against the Denver Nuggets.
Edwards notched up a career playoff high of 43 points as the Wolves drew first blood in the Western Conference semi-finals series with a 106-99 victory over the reigning champions in Game 1.
The two-time NBA All-Star shot 17-for-29 - including seven-for-10 on jump shots - seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal to become only the second player aged 22 or under in postseason history after Kobe Bryant to record successive 40-point performances.
Edwards has now scored 119 points across his last three playoff outings; the highest tally by a Wolves player across a three-game span in their postseason history.
The 22-year-old's exploits caught the eye of last season's NBA Finals MVP in Jokic, who shot just 11-for-25 (and two-for-nine from three-pointers) and conceded a game-high seven turnovers as the Nuggets surrendered home-court advantage at Ball Arena.
"To be honest, he's a special player," he said of Edwards. "I have huge respect for him; he can do everything on the floor. You need to give him respect for how good and how talented he is."
Minnesota have looked inspired during the playoffs, with a sweep of the Phoenix Suns helping them advance beyond the opening round for the first time since their only previous semi-final appearance in 2004.
And Edwards insists he and his team-mates are not daunted by the prospect of appearing in unfamiliar territory.
"Going against the best player in the world is always fun, going against the best team in the world is always fun," he said. "Our guys came out and competed, so it's not about me personally, it's about my team.
"It's not about introducing ourselves to anybody; we know who we are. We're coming out and as long as we've got each other's backs, it doesn't really matter what anybody else thinks."
NBA: Edwards scores 43 to lift Timberwolves over Nuggets in Game 1
Anthony Edwards poured in a playoff career-high 43 points and Naz Reid scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 106-99 on the road in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday.
Edwards had 25 points in the first half and Reid took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 straight points at one point during a pivotal late run.
His 3-pointer with 4:19 remaining capped the surge for a 94-88 lead and the Timberwolves held on down the stretch, with Edwards scoring eight points in the final three minutes.
Game 2 is Monday night in Denver.
Nikola Jokić had 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds but also had seven turnovers for Denver and Jamal Murray added 17 points after he was held scoreless in the first half.
Karl-Anthony Towns battled foul trouble to score 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and Mike Conley added 14 points and 10 assists for the Wolves, who improved to 5-0 in these playoffs.
Three days after knee surgery, Minnesota coach Chris Finch was on the bench in the second row, next to the scorer’s table and behind assistant Micha Nori, who did the instructing, roaming and switching.
NBA: Magic survive 'special' Mitchell onslaught to force series decider in Cleveland
The Orlando Magic survived a "special" Donovan Mitchell showing to overcome the Cleveland Cavaliers and force Game 7 in the NBA Playoffs.
Mitchell posted 50 points but that was not enough for the Cavaliers, who will have home advantage on Sunday in the winner-takes-all decider after their 103-96 loss in Game 6.
Mitchell's half-century haul tied for the second most in a loss in a potential series clincher in NBA history, according to ESPN.
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley was quick to heap praise on Mitchell as Orlando edged through to a series decider.
"He was going, but the other guys didn't have it going as much," Mosley said. "No one overreacted [to Mitchell]. He's a special, special player.
"To be able to have 50 and only make three 3s, that's very special. But our ability not to overreact or panic to what was happening because we continued to share it, move it, trust each other."
Mitchell scored all his team’s 18 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of 3s.
The Cavaliers star fell one point shy of matching the franchise playoff scoring record set by LeBron James, who had 51 in May 2018 against Golden State in the NBA Finals.
"We missed shots. Mine went in, but if it's not 50 maybe it's 60 or whatever it is," Mitchell said. "Maybe it's 30-10-10, whatever the game calls for. It is what it is.
"We didn't win the game. If I had 20 more, we would be up 20 more. Whatever the game calls for, it's my job to figure it out."
Cleveland won Games 1, 2 and 5 but Mitchell says previous encounters will be meaningless come the decider.
"All of the stuff you've done for six games all goes out the window," Mitchell said. "It's all about desperation and will.
"It's going to be just like tonight – find ways to continually be relentless. I have no doubt that we'll show up."
Franz Wagner had 26 points and Jalen Suggs added 22 for the Magic, who have not won a series for 14 years.
"Anything they have done to try and throw us off our game, knock us off balance, we've responded to it," Suggs said.
"We didn't want to end it here, and I think we all found comfort in that – in understanding how much pressure, you can call it, is on this game. But it was just another game for all of us."
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
