Things get tough on top seeds
Point guard issues have Suns, Heat both in tough battles in second-round series
Phoenix’s Chris Paul was livid. Miami’s Kyle Lowry was limping.
The playoffs are getting tougher for the No. 1 seeds, and issues with their point guards are part of the reason why.
Phoenix and Miami find themselves in big-time fights now, after both took 2-0 leads in their respective conference semifinal series and then went 0-2 on the road. Game 5s await on Tuesday night — Dallas visits Phoenix, Philadelphia visits Miami — with the winners set to be one victory away from the NBA’S Final Four.
Paul had two rough games in Dallas, fouling out of Game 4, and his day got worse amid allegations that members of his family were harassed by fans at the game. Lowry reinjured his problematic hamstring in Miami’s Game 4 loss at Philadelphia, casting doubt about his availability for Game 5 and beyond.
And now, best-of-seven series are down to best-ofthrees, with a pair of No. 4 seeds bringing tons of momentum into Tuesday’s matchups that will be played on the home courts of West No. 1 seed Phoenix and East No. 1 seed Miami.
“It’s going to be a fight. It’s going to be a fight,” Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey said. “And we have all fighters on our team. I don’t know anybody on our team that’s going to back down. They’re going to be in front of their home crowd and they’re going to try to protect home. And we’ve got to go in there and take it.”
Maxey was talking from the 76ers’ perspective, but word for word, the Mavericks would say the same about their looming test in Phoenix.
“Now we have to figure out how to win one on the road,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “But again, we’re playing the best team in the NBA right now in the Suns. We know this is a tough challenge, but we’ve just got to go out and execute and hopefully put ourselves in a position to win on the road.”
Paul averaged 8.5 points, 5.5 assists and five fouls per game in Phoenix’s two losses in Dallas. The incident with his family — a video surfaced of Paul yelling “I’ll see you later!” at a young fan, though it was not clear what transpired beforehand — left the Mavericks calling whatever happened unacceptable. But the on-court struggles happened before whatever off-court incident occurred.
“There’s nothing regular about Chris,” Kidd said. “He’s one of the best players of all time. He’ll have his team ready to go for Game 5.”
Jimmy Butler had 40 points for Miami in Game 4 and it still wasn’t enough.
The 76ers dropped Games 1 and 2 in Miami, but Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers made a brilliant adjustment for Games 3 and 4: He used Joel Embiid.
The MVP finalist and scoring champion, playing with a mask after missing the first two games because of an orbital fracture and concussion, averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds in Games 3 and 4 to help the 76ers even the series.
That, combined with Miami struggling enormously from 3-point range — 14 for 65 in the two losses in Philly — has the 76ers feeling great as they head south for Game 5.
“Game 5 is going to be a lot of fun,” Rivers said.