Denver through to NBA semifinal series
Nikola Jokic scored 32 points in another triple-double, and Jamal Murray added 26 as the Denver Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2020 by beating the short-handed Suns 125-100 in Phoenix on Thursday night. Denver’s 4-2 series victory comes two seasons after the Nuggets were embarrassed in a second-round postseason sweep by the Suns. This time, it was the Suns getting blown out on their home floor to end the season for the second straight year. The Nuggets will play in the conference finals for the first time since they lost to the Lakers in five games in the Florida bubble during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have never reached the NBA Finals. The top-seeded Nuggets used a 23-2 run during the latter part of the first quarter to take a 44-26 lead and never looked back. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — averaging 9.5 points in the playoffs — scored 17 in the first quarter while Jokic added 14. In the east, Jayson Tatum scored 16 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Boston Celtics held off the Philadelphia 76ers 95-86 on Thursday to force a decisive game seven in their NBA playoff series. The star Boston forward was enduring a dismal shooting night, making just one of 13 attempts from the floor through the first three quarters before erupting with four three-pointers in the final period as the Celtics thwarted Philadelphia's rally bid and leveled their Eastern Conference semifinal at three games apiece. They'll host game seven on Sunday, trying to deny the Sixers a first trip to the conference finals since 2001. (AP/AFP)