NBA playoffs on April 19: Celtics take game point, OKC escape abyss

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The visiting Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 104-96 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse during the NBA playoffs Friday, leading 3-0 in the series.

The Celtics are now one win away from the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference.

The Oklahoma City Thunder returned to the Chesapeake Energy Arena and beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-108, avoiding the fate of trailing 3-0.

The Toronto Raptors claimed a victory of 98-93 against the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center, taking back the home advantage.

Celtics vs. Pacers find old game back after crazy first half

Kyrie Irving, #11 of the Boston Celtics, shoots in the game they win against the Indiana Pacers 104-96 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, April 19, 2019. /VCG Photo

Jaylen Brown scored Boston's highest 23 points, and before he took the last shot, he was eight for eight on the court. Kyrie Irving had a double-double of 19 points and 10 assists while Jayson Tatum and Al Horford respectively 18 and 16 points. Marcus Morris contributed 11 points from the bench.

Indiana had seven players score double-digit points. Tyreke Evans got the highest 19 off the bench. The starting five dropped: Bojan Bogdanovic 15 points, Myles Turner 13 points, Thaddeus Young & Wesley Matthews 11 points and Darren Collison 10 points. Domantas Sabonis had 12 points.

Bojan Bogdanovic (L) of the Pacers shoots a three-pointer in the game against the Celtics, April 19, 2019. /VCG Photo

If you watched the first half of Friday's game, you would not believe it were the Celtics and the Pacers competing on the court. The score was 61-59 with the Pacers leading by two. The two teams in total buried 19 three-pointers (11 by Boston and eight by Indiana). By the way, the final scores of Game 1 and Game 2 were 84-74, 99-91 respectively.

The Celtics and the Pacers found their slow, physical, old game back in the second half. The Pacers again fell into scoring drought in Q3, watching the Celtics regain and expand the lead to seven points (80-73). In the last quarter, Indiana though kept trying to catch up, without a qualified playmaker, the team committed multiple turnovers at key moments and lost their first home game.

Having become the first 3-0 leading team in this year's playoffs, the Celtics have enough reason to be confident in making it to the next stage because, in the past 73 years, all of the 132 teams that led 3-0 in the best-of-seven series entered the next stage.

Thunder vs. Trail Blazers, Westbrook beats Lillard to be the hero

Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the game they win against the Portland Trail Blazers 120-108 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, April 19, 2019. /VCG Photo

Russell Westbrook put down the court's highest 33 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma City While Paul George got 22 points. Jerami Grant and Steven Adams each had 18 and 10 points. Dennis Schroder contributed 17 points off the bench,

Portland's scoring was concentrated in three: Damian Lillard scored 32 points; C.J. McCollum got 21 points and Enes Kanter had 19 points. None of the rest of the team put down over 10 points.

Damian Lillard, #0 of the Trail Blazers, penetrates in the game against the Thunder, April 19, 2019. /VCG Photo

After Game 1 and Game 2, neither side had any more secrets in their play anymore. The Thunder in the first half had Schroder follow Lillard closely to obstruct him before he could touch the ball. This tactic seemed to have worked as Lillard only had four points in the first half.

As the team's best scorer remained quiet, the Trail Blazers only got 39 points in the first half. However, OKC failed to take the opportunity because their orchestrator Westbrook was still confused with his role. "Mr. Triple-Double" made only four of 10 shots and committed five turnovers. Thanks to his poor performance, the Thunder only led by 10 points (49-39) before the game entered the second half.

Damian Lillard (L) of the Trail Blazers and Russell Westbrook (R) of the Thunder in the game, April 19, 2019. /VCG Photo

Lillard suddenly began to take over in the third quarter by shooting down 25 points, helping Portland narrow the score difference down to four points (86-82). When McCollum made another three-pointer from the 3-pt line in Q4, the game was already tied 89-89.

Nonetheless, when Westbrook came back to the court, he somehow found his shooting back both for field goals and three-pointers. Having scored 14 points in this quarter, Westbrook also delivered several remarkable assists for Grant. Their efforts helped Oklahoma City regain the lead and keep it until the end of the game.

Paul George, #13 of the Thunder, shoots in the game against the Trail Blazers, April 18, 2019. /VCG Photo

Besides Westbrook's supernormal shooting performance (11/22 for FG and 4/6 for 3-pt), George also contributed a lot to Oklahoma City's win on Friday. Though shoulder injuries affected his shooting, George kept assaulting Portland's rim and earned 17 free throws. Meanwhile, the team's role players, specifically Grant, Schroder and Terrance Ferguson in total sank nine three-pointers, more than the four three-balls made by Al-Farouq Aminu and Rodney Hood of the Trail Blazers. For both OKC and Portland, when their role players made bigger contributions, the team would be closer to victory.

Raptors vs. Magic, Siakam is MVP of the game

Pascal Siakam, #43 of the Toronto Raptors, drives towards the rim in the game they win against the Orlando Magic 98-93 at the Amway Center, April 19, 2019. /VCG Photo

Having played the court's longest 42 minutes in the game, Pascal Siakam stood out for Toronto When Kawhi Leonard was struggling with his shooting. Siakam made 13 of 20 shots, including three out of four from the 3-pt line to claim 30 points and 11 rebounds. He first scored seven straight points in the third quarter to help the Raptors launch a 16-0 run, establishing a lead of 15 points, then made a valuable floater in the last two minutes to help his team solidify their hold.

Though Orlando lost this first home game of theirs, they learned something. Nikola Vucevic is still the most powerful weapon of the team in offense. It only took him 13 shots to put down 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. When Marc Gasol was on the bench, none of the Raptors was able to stop Vucevic. If the Magic still want to put up some resistance in this series, they have to find a way to help Vucevic get rid of Gasol and maximize his power in the offense.