Bulls 113-106 Bucks Game 3
The Bulls win 113-106. Rose scores 34 points, Butler scores 24 points. Antetokounmpo scores 25 points and Khris Middleton scores 18 points for the Bucks. Chicago leads 3-0 the East First Round Series. Coach Thibodeau on Butler’s performance:
Jimmy set the tone for that.
Butler on Rose:
Playing with Derrick, he makes everything easier for everybody.
Middleton on Bucks loss:
We just got sloppy and stagnant.
Rose:
It’s playoff basketball. I’m still trying to catch a rhythm. Sometimes I get winded. I catch a second wind and I come back good. But I can’t think about that.
Cavaliers 103-95 Celtics Game 3
The Cavaliers win 103-95. James scores a double-double (31 points and 11 rebounds), Love scores 23 points, Smith scores 15 points. Turner scores 19 points and Bradley scores 18 points for the Celtics. Cleveland leads East First Round series 3-0.
Coach Blatt on Smith’s performance:
He didn’t necessarily have to after scoring 30 points in Game 2. But he wanted to be with his teammate.
James on teammate Smith:
We were together last night watching playoff games. He said he wanted to go early and I said, ‘Let’s go’.
Coach Stevens:
You want to make sure that we play as well as possible for however many games we have left.
Spurs 111-107 Clippers Game 2
The Spurs win 111-107. Duncan scores a double-double (28 points, 11 rebounds) and Leonard scores 23 points. Griffin scores a triple-double(29 points,12 rebounds and 11 assists) and Jordan scores a double-double (20 points and 15 rebounds) for the Clippers. The West First Round Series are tied 1-1. Coach Popovich on Duncan’s performance:
He was spectacular. He continues to amaze me with the things that he is able to do. He knows he had to stay on the court and he figured out a way to do it. He continued to be aggressive, which is pretty amazing.
Duncan:
I was awful. I missed two or three layups, I made two or three defensive mistakes, got out of position and gave up dunks to DeAndre (Jordan).
Ginobili:
Seeing the team play like this today was very important. Hopefully we bring the same sense of urgency, the same fire and juice, for Game 3.
Grizzlies 97-82 TrailBlazers Game 2
The Grizzlies win 97-82. Conley scores 17 points, Gasol scores 15 points and Randolph gets a double-double (ten points and ten rebounds). Aldridge scores a double-double (24 points and 14 rebounds) and Lillard scores 18 points for the TrailBlazers. Memphis leads West First Round Series 2-0. Lillard on TrailBlazers loss:
We got to try to do something there.
Gasol:
If they are going to keep giving us that, we’re going to keep taking them.
Coach Stotts on Memphis Game 2:
They’re good shooters. They don’t look for them a lot. We can’t leave them open either.
Hawks 96-91 Nets Game 2
The Hawks win 96-91. Millsap scores 19 points, Horford scores a double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Korver scores 17 points. Jack scores 23 points and Lopez scores 20 points for the Nets. Atlanta leads the East First Round Series 2-0.
Horford:
We’re kind of playing on the edge right now…Once the game started, I was good.
Coach Budenholzer:
We feel fortunate that we made just enough plays, just enough stops.
Jack on Nets loss:
All is not lost. Our confidence is high.
Wizards 117-106 Raptors
Wizards win 117-106. Wall scores a double-double (26 points,17 assists), Beal scores 28 points and Gortat scores 16 points. DeRozan scores 20 points and Valanciunas scores a double-double (15 points and ten rebounds) for the Wizards. Washington leads East First Round Series 2-0.
Beal on Raptors:
They think that we’re some punks, they think they can push us around. But we’re not rolling.
On Wizards Game 3:
We’ve got to play like we’re down 0-2. Nothing changes. We can’t stop being aggressive.
Coach Wittman on Raptors leads series:
It’s hard winning four games in a series. And as you continue to move on, the harder it gets. Game 3 on Friday is going to be harder to play in than these first two games. It just gets that way as the series moves on.
DeRozan:
It’s far from over. Our confidence is still high. All we’ve got to do is take it game by game.
Rockets 111-99 Mavericks Game 2
The Rockets wins 111-99. Howard scores a double-double (28 points and 12 rebounds) and Harden scores 24 points. Ellis scores 24 points for the Mavericks. Houston leads West First Round Series 2-0.
Harden on Smith friendship:
Man, like they were little boys again.
Smith:
We just saw something, a little wrinkle in their defense and we just tried to take advantage of it.
Howard on Game 2 success:
I don’t care about how many points I get, my job is to make sure I dominate the paint.
Coach Carlisle on Dallas loss:
Those are a problem. We’ve going to have to find a way to better combat that.
Cavaliers 99-91 Celtics Game 2
The Cavaliers win 99-91. James scores 30 points, Irving scores 26 points and Mozgov scores 16 points. Thomas scores 22 points for the Celtics. Cleveland leads the East First Round Series 2-0. James:
I’ve been in this moment before, and a lot of our guys haven’t. I thought it was important for me to put a stamp on this game.
Coach Stevens on Celtics loss:
We made those guys earn everything they got. And that’s a step in the right direction. We were in a three-possession game and we shot 38 percent.
Irving:
It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t pretty. But we got it done.
Injured
Hough is injured during Dancing with the Stars rehearsal. Injuries include a broken toe on the right foot and sprains and bruising to the left ankle. He is canceling a Radio City Music Hall appearance as a result. From his representative,
It remains unclear at this time if Derek will be able to perform on the Monday, April 27 episode of Dancing with the Stars, his partner Nastia Liukin will train in Los Angeles this week with pro-dancer Sasha Farber to prepare for the live show.
Women’s winner
Rotich, from Kenya, wins the women’s division in 2 hours 24 minutes 55 seconds after a mile-long sprint to the finish. She wins four seconds ahead of the second-place runner.
I thought I’d finish second. Just like that I saw the finish line and was like: I can kick! I can kick!
Men’s division winner
Desisa wins the men’s division in 2 hours 9 minutes 17 seconds. He throws off his hat and waves to spectators as he sprints to the finish. Desisa also won the 2013 marathon but gave his medal to the city of Boston in light of the bombings that year.
This medal is mine to keep . . . I started waving my hands because I love the Boston people.
Hawks 99-92 Nets Game 1
The Hawks win 99-92. Korver scores 21 points, Carroll scores 17 points. Johnson scores 17 points, Lopez scores 17 points for the Nets. Atlanta leads East First Round Series 1-0. Millsap on his teammates:
It’s going to be tough to just blow teams out. It’s the playoffs. You expect them to hang in there and fight hard.
Coach Hollins:
If you don’t believe you can play in this series, you should believe it now.
Johnson on the Nets’ loss:
This is going to be a tough series. This is one game. We’ve got to put it behind us.
On Hawks’ crowd boos:
It didn’t affect me. I pretty much expect it.
Cavaliers 113-100 Celtics
The Cavaliers win 113-100. Irving scores 30 points, James scores 20 points and Love scores a double-double (19 points and 12 rebounds). Thomas scores 22 points for the Celtics. Cleveland leads East First Round Series 1-0. Irving on James, Love:
We are the Big 3. We have really great players on this team, but we set the tone.
James on teammates:
They were phenomenal. Those two guys, they succeeded for the first time being in the postseason.
Thomas:
We’re still confident. Guys are ready for Game 2, knowing that good or bad you’ve got to have a short memory. There are possibly seven games in this series and it could go either way.
Grizzlies 100-86 TrailBlazers Game 1
The Grizzlies win 100-86. Udrih scores 20 points, Randolph scores a double-double (16 points and 11 rebounds), Gasol scores 15 points and 11 rebounds and Green scores 16 points. Aldridge scores 32 points, Batum scores 15 points and Lillard scores 14 points for the TrailBlazers. Memphis leads First Round West Series 1-0. Coach Stotts on Udrih’s perfomance:
He did a little bit of everything. Shots like that I’ve got to take. I knocked down and then two more times I came out of the screen and knocked them down again. I was just being aggressive.
Udrih:
I was wide open. Shots like that I’ve got to take. I knocked down and then two more times I came out of the screen and knocked them down again. I was just being aggressive.
Aldrigde on TrailBlazers loss:
I think a good wakeup call for us. But definitely tonight they manhandled us.
Wins Monte Carlo Masters
Djokovic beats Berdych 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to win the Monte Carlo Masters.
It was a tough match…Tomas played a great match and deserves this trophy as much as I do. It was a good final, but bad luck today.
Rockets 118-108 Mavericks
The Rockets win 118-108. Harden scores 24 points, Brewer scores 15 points and Howard 11 points, five rebounds and five blocks. Nowitzki scores 24 points, Chandler scores a double-double (11 points and 18 rebounds) for the Mavericks. Houston leads First Round West Series 1-0. Harden:
That’s means everybody’s touching the basketball, everybody’s getting involved and they can’t only just stop one person. They put two on the ball, me I make the pocket pass, I made the easy play and had confidence in my teammates to make the next one.
Nowitzki on Maverick’s loss:
You’ve got to give the other guys credit. Obviously, we were paying a lot of attention to James, but they made some plays off the pick-and-rolls. It’s just too easy.
Brewer:
It’s all about Game 1. You have to get Game 1, especially when you have homecourt advantage. For us, it was big to get a win. We got a win, and now we’ve got to get Game 2.
Warriors 106-99 Pelicans Game 1
The Warriors win 106-99. Curry scores 34 points, Thompson scores 21 points, Green scores a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds). For the Pelicans, Davis scores 35 points, Pondexter scores 20 points and Gordon 16 points. Warriors leads West First Round Series 1-0. Curry:
I was locked in and focused the whole night. In those situations, you want to get the crowd back into it. There’s a weird kind of tension, especially in the second half when they made a couple runs. But in the playoffs, you have to expect anything. And whenever you’re on the floor, just try to make an impact.
Coach Kerr:
It’s good for us to have to deal with the feeling in the building, especially as a favorite, when a team starts to come back. You have to feel that. That’s all part of it.
Davis:
I think the whole team was nervous. This is our first time as a unit in the playoffs, and our pace was good. We were moving fast, but our minds were moving fast as well.
Twins 8 – 5 Royals
The Twins defeat the Royals 8-5. Mauer has three RBI’s and Vargas and Suzuki each add two-run home runs. Milone:
The guys had my back, especially scoring right after they scored in the first inning. You get that breath of fresh air, and go back out there and try to battle and keep your team in the game.
Hunter on Vargas’ home run
That was a bullet. I was in awe. I didn’t see David Ortiz hit nothing like that. That was impressive. I’m glad to see him start to come around and swing the bat well and be that threat we know he can be.
Rockets 117-91 Jazz
The Rockets win 117-91. Harden scores a triple-double (16 points, 11 rebounds and ten assists), Howard scores 14 points and Smith scores 13 points. Cotton scores 14 points for the Jazz. Howard on playoffs game:
We want to win a championship and that’s the goal. You can have a great regular season but the most important thing is what you do in the playoffs.
Coach McHale:
We came out and had good juice. We had a great second quarter and really got out running and got some stops.
Coach Snyder:
They were just better than us. They just outplayed us and there’s no shame in that for our group.
Mavericks 114-98 TrailBlazers
The Mavericks win 114-98. Chandler scores a double-double (22 points and 15 rebounds). Lillard scores 17 points and Aldridge scores 17 points for the Blazers. Coach Carlisle on the Houston-Mavericks playoff game:
That’s a lot of external noise. We’ve got to make sure that we ignore what’s not important. What’s important is our group, how tied together we are and how strong our will is.
Chandler on Rockets playoff game:
We have a tough task ahead of us.
Aldridge:
You always want to win your last game or your last few games, but we’ve had guys out. I think guys just have to be ready to go now.