Philadelphia hasn’t been to the Eastern Conference finals since 2001. Denver hasn’t played a home game in the Western Conference finals since 2009.
The 76ers and Nuggets are on the brink of updating those numbers.
Philadelphia went into Boston and won Game 5 of their East semifinal series on Tuesday night for a 3-2 lead in that series, while Denver snapped a two-game slide and held serve at home to take a 3-2 lead over Phoenix in Game 5 of their West semifinal series.
They can close out those matchups on Thursday — Philly getting a chance to clinch at home, Denver facing a Game 6 in Phoenix before a potential Game 7 back in the Mile High City on Sunday if necessary. The Nuggets made the West finals in 2020, but that was in the restart bubble and no Denver fans got to be at those games.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Wednesday has Game 5s of New York-Miami and Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State, with the Knicks and Warriors needing a win at home to extend their seasons. On Thursday, it’s Game 6s for Suns-Nuggets and 76ers-Celtics.
If the Knicks-Heat and Lakers-Warriors series need a Game 6, it’ll be on Friday.
HOW TO WATCH
— Wednesday’s doubleheader is on TNT.
— Thursday’s doubleheader is on ESPN.
— Any games that are needed Friday would also be on ESPN.
— Team broadcasters will no longer air games. Everything after the first round is exclusive to national windows and not available for local telecasts.
— The NBA Finals on ABC begin June 1.
POWER OF 3
Denver had 13 3-pointers to Phoenix’s nine in Game 5 of that West series on Tuesday night.
It’s further proof that simple math still works: make more 3’s, and a team just has a better chance of winning. Teams with at least three more made 3’s than their opponents are now 29-11 in this year’s playoffs.
That’s a 72.5% winning rate, and is basically flat to what was the case in the regular season.
Those teams who made at least three more 3’s than their opponents in the regular season went 591-234, or a 71.6% winning clip.
THE U
For the second consecutive night, a Miami Hurricane came off their bench to deliver in a big playoff spot. On Monday it was Lonnie Walker, getting 15 points to help the Lakers beat Golden State. And on Tuesday, it was Bruce Brown — who had 25 points in 27 minutes to help Denver top Phoenix.
QUOTABLE
“I was hoping he was going to pay my fine.” — Denver’s Nikola Jokic, on his quick pregame greeting with Suns owner Mat Ishiba before Game 5 of that matchup. Jokic was fined $25,000 after trying to grab the ball from Ishbia after it went into the crowd in Game 4.
