The 2013 NBA Playoffs continued on Friday night. While the Golden State Warriors continued their quest of an upset, the Lakers and Celtics are on the verge of being swept.
San Antonio defeats Los Angeles, 120-89
In the most anticipated matchup of the night, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Lakers to take a 3-0 series lead, dismantling them, 120-89.
The deck was already stacked against L.A. with the loss of their leading scorer, Kobe Bryant. But when you factor in the other injuries of guards Steve Nash, Steve Blake, and Jodie Meeks, the team wasn’t at anything close to full strength last night. Interestingly enough, the backcourt wasn’t the problem on Friday. Replacements Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris shot better than 50% from the field and scored 44 points.
The real issue was that the Lakers got virtually nothing offensively from veteran forwards Metta World Peace and Antawn Jamison. The duo was 2-11 from the field and had a big goose egg in the rebounds column. Los Angeles not only needs those guys to score, but to rebound as well – and the two did neither. Of little consolation were the strong games by Pau Gasol, who registered a triple double, and Dwight Howard, who added 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Another issue for Los Angeles was the Spurs’ incredibly deep bench. San Antonio got a whopping 46 points from their reserves. Other than Gary Neal’s 3-10 shooting performance, the remaining seven backups all shot at least 50% from the field. Suffice to say, the Lakers’ nine bench points weren’t nearly enough.
Wounded and not having much life, the Lakers are all but eliminated in this series.
Knicks take 3-0 lead over Celtics
Like the Lakers, the Boston Celtics find themselves facing a 3-0 deficit after a 90-76 loss at the hands of the New York Knicks. Forward Carmelo Anthony again led the way with 26 points, and guard Raymond Felton added 15 points and ten assists.
For the Celtics, this should be the end of the road this season. Without guard Rajon Rondo, who is out for the season with a knee injury, the team has little firepower in the backcourt. Jason Terry was solid last night, but Avery Bradley had a dismal performance, making only one of his four shots and recording zero assists. That might not be so bad if he played sparingly, but racking up 33 minutes, he’s got to do more. The series has only proved what we’ve already known – the Celtics simply aren’t a very good team without Rondo.
All wasn’t well for New York, though. One of their top reserves, J.R. Smith, was ejected after a flagrant foul against the veteran Terry in the fourth quarter. Smith was tossed from the game and could face a suspension. Chances are that the Knicks will win the series without him, but the worst case scenario would be a New York win in Game 4 and a multi-game suspension for Smith, who would then miss the beginning of the next series.
Stephen Curry pushes Warriors to 110-108 win over Nuggets
Golden State is out to a 2-1 lead over Denver thanks to another big game by sharpshooter Stephen Curry. Curry’s 29 points and 11 rebounds led the way for the surprising Warriors.
Each team hit a number of big shots down the stretch and it seemed destined for the last-second finish that occurred. Holding on to a slim 110-108 lead, the Warriors watched as Andre Iguodala dribbled up to mid-court in the closing seconds and hoisted a three-point attempt that clanged off the rim at the buzzer.
Ty Lawson led Denver with a playoff career high 35 points, but it wasn’t enough. The Nuggets’ small lineup was outrebounded and also couldn’t keep up with the hot-shooting Warriors, who made 52% of their shots.
Despite not having All-Star forward David Lee, Golden State holds the series lead over the No. 3 seed in the west. The Warriors are also dealing with an injury to Curry as he played on a sprained ankle. It didn’t affect his game too much on Friday, but is a level of concern for the team and definitely something to watch as things go forward.
All things considered, though, with a 2-1 series lead and the next game in Oakland, the Warriors are in good shape.
