NBA

Raptors vs. 76ers duel in the 1st round

Published

4 years ago

April 11, 2022

Sophia

NEW YORK – Chips are falling, the Toronto Raptors will face the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

The Raptors (48-34) won their eighth playoff appearance in nine seasons with a win over the Atlanta Hawks last Tuesday. Then on Friday they confirmed their fifth place by making a comeback to beat the Rockets on Friday.

However, the congestion in the Eastern Conference standings meant that everyone had to wait until the last day of the regular season to find out their opponent in the first round.

In the case of the Raptors, protagonists Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet were given a day off on Sunday and the team suffered a minor 105-94 defeat by the New York Knicks.

The Boston Celtics beat the Memphis Grizzlies 139-110 to secure second place in the East. So the Sixers could not do better than fourth place and the Raptors were already limited to fifth place.

The best-of-seven series kicks off in Philadelphia next Saturday or Sunday.

The Raptors will enter the playoffs with a hot streak after a five-game winning streak in the west in early March, with the Toronto team winning 14 of 18 games. This is the best record in the NBA this season.

Against the 76ers, the Raptors won 3-1 this season, including a 119-114 home win last Thursday. The Sixers defense specialist Matisse Thybulle was unable to play in Toronto in that game, raising doubts about his presence in Canada for the series.

Players must be vaccinated to cross the Canadian border. The rule also applies to Raptors players who must travel to the United States, but the entire team has been vaccinated.

The Raptors should obviously be watching Joel Embiid. Embiid had a great season 2021-2022. He became the first center to win the NBA Scoring Championship after Shaquille O’Neal in 2000.

In the playoffs, the Raptors and the Sixers have faced each other twice. In 2019, the Torotonians won under the sound of the siren during the unforgettable shot of Kawhi Leonard at the end of the 7th game. The Raptors then continued their journey to the NBA title.

In 2001, the Sixers won the Eastern Conference semifinals after a fierce duel with Vince Carter and Allen Iverson.

Defeat in New York

As mentioned above, the Raptors were at Madison Square Garden for the last game of the regular season. Obi Topin had the best game of his young career with 42 points, as teammate Immanuel Quickley added 34 points along with 10 rebounds and 12 assists as the Knicks won 105-94.

The Knicks closed their disappointing season with a record of 37-45. On Sunday, they only bet on eight players in uniform. Their young players had another good season, winning seven of their last ten games.

On the Raptors side, without Siakam and VanVleet, Chris Boucher scored 21 points and Gary Trent Jr. added 17. The Raptors were three points ahead at the start of the fourth quarter before seeing the Knicks line up nine consecutive points to save the game.

Other known clashes in the 1st round

Bucks (3) vs. Bulls (6)

Warriors (3) vs. Nuggets (6)

Mavericks (4) vs. Jazz (5)

The top two teams from each federation will have to wait for the results of the knockout tournament to find out their opponents in the first round.

Elsewhere in the NBA

Pacers 126 – Nets 134

IND: Tyrese Haliburton finished his season with 17 points and 10 assists
BRO: 20-point hat-trick, 16 assists and 10 rebounds for Kevin Durand

Wizards 108 – Hornets 124

WAS: Rui Hachimura has 21 points
CHA: LaMelo Ball just missed the hat-trick, with 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists

Bucks 115 – Cavaliers 133

MIL: Sandro Mamukelashvili made the best game of his career with 28 points, 13 rebounds and four assists
CLE: good harvest of 32 points and 10 rebounds for veteran Kevin Love

Hawks 130 – Rockets 114

ATL: Trae Young had 28 points and 11 assists
HOU: Jalen Green completed his rookie season with a great performance of 41 points

Heat 111 – Magic 125

MIA: big double of 40 points and 10 rebounds for Victor Oladipo
ORL: Mo Baba was the best of his team with 21 points and 10 rebounds

Pistons 106 – 76ers 118

DET: doubled 20 points and 10 rebounds for Luke Garza
PHI: Shake Milton led his team with 30 points

Celtics 139 – Grizzlies 110

BOS: Jayson Tatum continued his strong end to the season with 31 points and nine rebounds
MEM: hat-trick for John Konchar with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists

Bulls 124 – Timberwolves 120

CHI: 35-point career high for Patrick Williams
MIN: Nathan Knight was ahead of the Wolves by 17 points

Jazz 111 – Trail Blazers 80

UTA: double 18 points and 13 points by Rudy Gobert
POR: Reggie Perry has 20 points

Kings 116 – Suns 109

SAC: Davion Mitchell scored 19 points and added 15 assists
PHO: Landry Shamet led the Suns by 27 points

Thunder 88 – Clippers 138

OKC: doubled 17 points and 15 rebounds for Jalen Howard
LAC: monstrous performance of 35 points and 13 rebounds for Amir Coffey

Lakers 146 – Nuggets 141 (OT)

LAK: hat-trick 31 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for Austin Reeves
DEN: Bryn Forbes led the Nuggest by 24 points

Spurs 120 – Mavericks 130

SAS: Keldon Johnson finished the game with 24 points, six rebounds and four steals
DAL: Before leaving due to injury, Luka Doncic had 26 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

Warriors 128 – Pelicans 107

GSW: best game of the season for Klay Thompson with 41 points
NOP: Naji Marshall was the author of 19 points

Source: rds

Sophia

Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.

NBA

Denver announces Jokic’s recovery from knee injury

Published

1 day ago

December 30, 2025

Paula

Denver announces Jokic’s recovery from knee injury

Denver Nuggets announced Nikola Jokic He will miss at least four weeks due to a left knee injury.

Star center was diagnosed with left knee hyperextension. At the same time, tests confirmed that the three-time NBA MVP’s knee ligaments remained intact.

Jokic was injured in the final seconds of the first half of the 123-147 loss to the Miami Heat and limped heavily on his way to the locker room. He did not return to the site after a long time.

Before his injury, Nikola managed to produce 21 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds in just 19 minutes on the field.

Losing Jokic could be a big blow for Denver, as starters Christian Braun (ankle injury), Aaron Gordon (hip issue) and Cam Johnson (knee injury) remain sidelined.

Jokic averaged 29.9 points, 12.4 rebounds and 11.1 assists per game this season.

Injury Update: Nikola Jokić suffered a Hyperextension injury in his Left Knee in last night’s match against Miami Heat. Nikola will be re-evaluated in four weeks. pic.twitter.com/NIDmlKAN81

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 30, 2025

Source: Sport UA

Paula

I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.

NBA

NBA: Miami beat Denver, Cleveland beat San Antonio, Toronto won

Published

2 days ago

December 30, 2025

Paula

NBA: Miami beat Denver, Cleveland beat San Antonio, Toronto won

11 games were played in the NBA regular season on the night of December 29-30.

Miami hosted Denver and earned a landslide victory.

The home team was ahead by 12 points with 41:29 to play in the first quarter, but the Nuggets were able to slowly win back in the second quarter. The teams entered a long break with the score tied at 63:63. The decisive factor in the match was the third quarter, when the Heat made an 11:0 move and led by 15 points at 84:69. After that the home team completely controlled the course of the game and only increased their advantage, achieving a crushing victory – 147:123.

The most productive player of the match was Powell, who brought 25 points to Miami, while Jaques (20 points + 11 assists) and Adebayo had double-doubles with 13 points + 10 rebounds.

San Antonio hosted Cleveland and suffered a sensational defeat.

Three-quarters of the meeting was fought evenly, with the teams responding to each other’s pushes with their own pushes and often staying within a shot or two of each other. That changed in the fourth quarter, as the Cavaliers went on a 15-2 run to take a 10-point lead, 94-84. They then maintained their advantage and won with a score of 113:101.

Cleveland’s main hero in this game was Allen, who had a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Garland can achieve the same success with 15 points and 11 assists.

Toronto beat Orlando at home.

Magic started the match better and made a 14:2 move at the start. Afterwards, they took control of the course of the game and increased the advantage completely to +21 – 51:30 in the second 12 minutes. After that, the home team slowly started to close the gap and entered the long break with a score of 11-11 at 54:65. The third quarter was tied, so Orlando still had a double-digit advantage ahead of the final: 94:84. At the beginning of the match the play followed the same scenario but in the middle Toronto made a move with 15:0 and not only won it back but also took the lead with 105:102. The fate of the game was decided by Barnes’ free throws, which set the score at 107:106 with 1 minute and 27 seconds left in the quarter.

Barnes could not make a triple-double this time, but he did a double-double and got 13 points and 11 rebounds, while the most productive name in the victory was Shead with 19 points.

NBA. Regular season, December 30

Miami – Denver – 147:123 (41:29, 22:34, 47:36, 37:24)

Miami: Powell (25), Weir (19 + 9 rebounds), Wiggins (19 + 6 assists), Adebayo (13 + 10 rebounds), Mitchell (10 + 9 assists) – start; Jovic (22), Jaques (20 + 11 assists), Smith (11), Larsson (3), Fontecchio (3), Johnson (2), Yakucionis (0), Gardner (0).

Denver: Jokic (21 + 8 assists), J. Murray (20 + 11 assists), Hardaway (16), Jones (16), Watson (11) – start; B. Brown (15), Valanciunas (6), Holmes (4), Strother (4), Nnaji (4), Pickett (2), Jones (2), Tyson (2).

San Antonio – Cleveland – 101:113 (26:25, 29:24, 23:27, 23:37)

San Antonio: Vembanyama (26 + 14 rebounds), Castle (15 + 8 assists + 5 losses), Fox (14), Vassell (7), Barnes (3) – start; Harper (11), Cornet (10 + 9 rebounds), K. Johnson (8), Shempeni (7), Brian (0).

cleveland: Allen (27 + 10 rebounds), E. Mobley (16 + 7 rebounds), Garland (15 + 11 assists), Mitchell (10 + 7 assists), Wade (10) – start; Hunter (11 + 9 rebounds), Tyson (11), Tomlin (6), Merrill (5), Porter (2).

Toronto – Orlando – 107:106 (18:29, 36:36, 30:29, 23:12)

toronto: Ingram (17 + 9 rebounds), Barnes (13 + 11 rebounds), Mamukelashvili (13), Agbadzhi (10), Quickley (4) – start; Shed (19), Dick (15), Walter (10 + 7 rebounds), Murray-Boyles (4 + 12 rebounds), Bettle (2), Bamba (0).

Orlando’s: Black (27), Banchero (23 + 15 rebounds + 10 assists), Bane (18), Jones (10), Carter (9) – start; Richardson (7), da Silva (6), Kane (3), Bitadze (2), Penda (1), Isaac (0).

Washington – Phoenix – 101:115 (23:22, 31:39, 25:26, 22:28)

washington: Johnson (24), McCollum (17), Coulibaly (13 + 7 rebounds), Watkins (3), Sarr (2) – start; Shempeny (11), Carrington (10), Riley (10), Bagley (7+7 rebounds), Brenham (4), Johnson (0), Hill (0).

Phoenix: Brooks (26), Gillespie (25 + 6 assists), Booker (22), O’Neal (15), Igodaro (6 + 10 rebounds) – starter; Goodwin (14 + 7 rebounds), Livers (3), Buey (2), Richards (2 + 9 rebounds), Hayes-Davis (0), Fleming (0), Maluach (0).

Charlotte-Milwaukee-113:123 (26:25, 40:38, 23:32, 24:28)

Charlotte: Miller (31 + 8 rebounds), Ball (26 + 7 assists + 6 losses), Diabate (14 + 9 rebounds), Bridges (3), James (0) – start; Sexton (16 + 8 assists), Green (10), McNeely (7), Hall (3), Hall (3 + 11 rebounds), Mann (0).

Milwaukee: Y. Antetokounmpo (24 + 7 assists), Turner (23 + 4 blocked shots), Porter (15 + 11 assists), Rollins (13), Green (5) – start; Portis (25), Trent (9), Kuzma (6), G. Harris (3), Sims (0).

Brooklyn – Golden State – 107:120 (30:28, 27:31, 28:30, 22:31)

Brooklyn: Porter (27 + 9 rebounds), Demin (23), Claxton (15 + 9 rebounds), Clowney (11), Mann (4) – start; Thomas (13), Traore (9), Sharpe (3), Powell (2), Wolfe (0).

Golden State: Curry (27), Butler (21), Dr. Green (7), Moody (4), Post (3) – start; Jackson-Davis (11), Payton II (10), Melton (10 + 8 rebounds), Richard (10), Podziemski (7), Hield (6), Spencer (4), Santos (0).

New Orleans – New York – 125:130 (41:37, 34:35, 28:24, 22:34)

New Orleans: Williamson (32), Bay (26 + 6 assists), Murphy (21), Quinn (7 + 9 rebounds + 6 assists), Fiers (4) – start; Poole (26), Peavey (3), Hawkins (2), Missy (2), Looney (2 + 9 rebounds).

new York: Brunson (28 + 10 assists), Anunoby (23 + 11 rebounds), Diawara (18), Towns (12 + 12 rebounds), Bridges (6 + 10 assists) – start; McBride (14), Yabusele (9), Clarkson (9), Kolek (7), McCullar (2), Jamison (2), Hookporty (0).

Oklahoma – Atlanta – 140:129 (35:38, 35:36, 43:29, 27:26)

Oklahoma: Gilgeous-Alexander (39 + 6 assists), Holmgren (24 + 9 rebounds), Jaylen Williams (20 + 9 rebounds + 7 assists), Wallace (17 + 7 rebounds), Dort (6) – start; Caruso (16 + 9 rebounds), Mitchell (10), Carlson (6), Wiggins (2), Joe (0), K. Williams (0).

of Atlanta: Alexander-Walker (30), Okongwu (26 + 14 rebounds + 6 assists), Krejci (18), Daniels (13 + 7 assists), Risache (12) – start; Kennard (12), Wallace (9), Newell (9), Gueye (0).

Houston – Indiana – 126:119 (30:25, 36:23, 39:30, 21:41)

Houston: Durant (30), Smith (21 + 10 rebounds), Thompson (20 + 8 rebounds + 7 assists), Eason (13 + 8 rebounds), Adams (8) – start; Sheppard (13), Finney-Smith (6), Capela (6+7 rebounds), Okogie (3), Davison (2), Tate (2), Green (2), A. Holiday (0).

indiana: Siakam (23), Maturin (14), Nembhard (11), Furphy (9), Huff (8) – start; Nesmith (14), Walker (12), Jackson (7), McConnell (6), Peter (6), Jones (4), Potter (3 + 6 assists), Thompson (2), Bradley (0).

Chicago – Minnesota – 101:136 (23:21, 27:34, 28:40, 23:41)

Chicago: Vucevic (23), Buzelis (13), Giddy (11), Okoro (4), White (0) – start; Smith (12), Jones (11), Dosunmu (10 + 7 assists), Herter (8), Williams (7), Phillips (2), Carter (0), Terry (0).

Minnesota: Edwards (23), Randle (17 + 14 assists), DiVincenzo (12), Gobert (9 + 10 rebounds + 4 blocks), McDaniels (7) – start; Reed (33 + 7 rebounds), Hyland (12), Clark (11), Dillingham (5), Miller (3), Juzeng (2), Conley (2), Beranger (0).

Portland – Dallas – 125:122 (42:29, 33:34, 22:30, 28:29)

Portland: Avdija (27 + 9 rebounds + 11 assists + 8 losses), Sharpe (24), Klingin (18 + 11 rebounds), Kamara (9), Sissoko (6) – start; Love (24), Ruper (9), R. Williams (8 + 8 rebounds), Yang Hansen (0).

dallas: Christie (25), Gafford (17 + 10 rebounds), Flagg (15 + 7 assists + 5 turnovers), Washington (8), Nembhard (0 + 6 assists) – start; Williams (22), Marshall (17), Thompson (14), Powell (2), Caleb Martin (2).

tournament tables

Western Conference

Eastern Conference

Source: Sport UA

Paula

NBA

ADETOKUMBO: “Disrespectful. Don’t ask me this question”

Published

4 days ago

December 28, 2025

Paula

ADETOKUMBO: “Disrespectful. Don’t ask me this question”

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo He gave a harsh response to the question about a possible trade to another NBA club:

“I’m here. Don’t ask me that question. It’s disrespectful to me and my teammates. I wear this jersey every day.

To say I don’t want to be here is disrespectful to the organization, the coaching staff, myself and everyone who worked hard to get me on the field. Don’t ask me this question. I am her. I’m going out in this uniform. And as long as I’m here, I’ll give it my all until the last second of the match.”

On the night of December 27-28, Antetokounmpo returned to the field after his calf muscle injury and became the most productive player of the game with the Chicago Bulls – 112:103.

Source: Sport UA

Paula