NBA playoffs on April 20: Three teams one win away from semis

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Four NBA playoff games took place on Saturday. The Philadelphia 76ers are one victory from taking the series after defeating the Brooklyn Nets 112-108 at the Barclays Center. The Houston Rockets claimed a close win against the Utah Jazz 104-101 at the Vivint Smart Home Arena to lead 3-0 in their contest. The Milwaukee Bucks inflicted another humiliating defeat on the Detroit Pistons (119-103) at the Little Caesars Arena and are also only one win from making the next stage. The Denver Nuggets took down the San Antonio Spurs 117-103 at the AT&T Center to take the series to essential Game 5.

76ers vs Nets: Embiid shows dominance

Joel Embiid #21 and Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers celebrate during their game against the Brooklyn Nets that they won 112-108 at the Barclays Center, April 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

Joel Embiid returned in Game 4 for Philadelphia and dropped 31 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks. Tobias Harris scored 24 points while Ben Simmons put down 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Jimmy Butler had 11 points before he was ejected.

Brooklyn had three score over 20 points from their starting-lineup: Caris LeVert 25 points, D'Angelo Russell and Jarrett Allen 21 each. Joe Harris got 10 points but he missed all of his six three-pointers. Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 18 points from the bench.

D'Angelo Russell of the Nets celebrates after making a three-pointer in the game against the 76ers, April 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

The Nets did everything they could in offense, especially from the 3-pt line, in a bid for at least one victory at home. Having dreaded Embiid's intimidating defense in the paint, the team focused their offense on three-pointers and they made 10 in the first three quarters. Thanks to that, Brooklyn managed to be the leading side up to then.

However, when they could not bury three-balls, the Nets began to have trouble with their offense. When they tried to challenge Embiid around the rim, the 2.16-meter center showed them the result by blocking the first shot of Russell. Without reliable scoring methods, Brooklyn only got 17 points in the last quarter.

By contrast, Embiid exploded in the second half with 20 points, of which 12 came in Q4. Actually, it was he who helped the 76ers gain the lead in the last two and a half minutes by dropping eight straight points. With the 3-1 lead in their hands, the 76ers will return home for Game 5 and have a good chance of putting an end to the series there.

Nuggets vs Spurs: Jamal Murray is the barometer

Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets dunks in the game they won against the San Antonio Spurs 117-103 at the AT&T Center, April 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

Though Nikola Jokic put down 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Denver, it was Jamal Murray who really decided whether the team could win or not in the series. Of all the outside players of the Nuggets, Murray has the best combination of shooting and penetrating, making him the sharpest weapon against San Antonio's defense. In the two games, Denver won, Murray could put down 24 points, five assists and sink 2.5 three-pointers on average. By contrast, in their two losses, he only got 11.5 points and one assist per game.

The Spurs lost Saturday's game to their three balls. It's hard to win by making only five three-pointers while your opponent made 15. Derrick White who had his career-best game last time only got eight points, four rebounds, five assists and four turnovers. What frustrated them even more was that they had to play the essential Game 5 at Denver's home court and, if they have to, play Game 7 there, too. The longer the series gets, the more beneficial it will be the Nuggets.

Bucks vs Pistons: Another loss for Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin #23 of the Detroit Pistons in the game they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 119-103 at the Little Caesars Arena, April 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

Blake Griffin returned for Detroit in their first home game and he put down 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists. This should have been good news for the Pistons if there had not been humiliated by the Bucks again.

Though Giannis Antetokounmpo underperformed in the game (14 points, 10 rebounds), his teammates stood out. Khris Middleton scored 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Brook Lopez dropped 19 points, seven rebounds, made three three-pointers and delivered five blocks.

Brook Lopez (L) of the Bucks blocks a shot by Andre Drummond (R) of the Pistons, April 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

By contrast, Detroit's Andre Drummond, who's supposed to be another leader of the team, made only four of his 14 shots – he is a 2.13-meter center who only shoots in the paint-to get 12 points and 12 rebounds. In his 10 offensive positions in Q1, Drummond missed six shots, committed three turnovers and received three blocks from Lopez.

The last time the Pistons won a playoff game was 11 years ago and Saturday's loss is already their 13th consecutive in the playoffs. A cruel fact for the team is that they have to rebuild their franchise and a crueler fact is that probably no teams are willing to accept their Drummond or Reggie Jackson, not to mention if anyone star-level free agent wants to come to Detroit.

Rockets vs Jazz: Harden owes Tucker new sneakers

James Harden and P.J. Tucker #17 hug each other after Houston Rockets beat Utah Jazz 104-101 at the Vivint Smart Home Arena, April 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

James Harden played the worst playoff game of his life on Saturday by making only three of his 20 shots –actually he missed 15 in a row until he broke the field goal drought with a dunk. Utah did enough homework in dealing with Harden: they had Rudy Gobert stand one step from the rim so he was better prepared to block Harden's floater; they kept an eye on Harden's passing to either steal the ball or at least make it uncomfortable for his teammates to receive the ball; they sent their guards, including Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell, to aim for Harden with their penetration, trying to earn more fouls on him.

However, the Jazz did a terrible job on the other side of the court. The team passed like the 2014 Spurs in offense as they could always find an open teammate but the difference is, the Spurs made those open shots and the Jazz did not. As the game went on, Houston realized that although their superstar fell into foul trouble and could not struggle more in offense, they never trailed more than six points.

P.J. Tucker of the Rockets shoots a three-pointer against the Jazz, April 20, 2019. /VCG Photo

P.J. Tucker saved the day for Houston with two valuable rebounds in the last 15 seconds of the game. He first grabbed an offensive rebound when Harden missed his last three-pointer before making one free throw to expand the team's lead to three points (102-99). Then after Mitchell missed his last three-pointer, Tucker again pocketed the defensive rebound and made the following two free throws to help the Rockets seal the victory.

Game 4 will still be at the Vivint Smart Home Arena. If Utah do not want to congratulate Houston for making the Western semi-finals at home, they'd better start working on their shooting.