Enjoy Basketball: Luka Magic stuns Suns, Grant Williams lights up Bucks

Welcome back to another edition of Enjoy Basketball!

Four teams remain. The Conference Finals are set. One is a matchup we saw just two years ago, while the other is one generation facing off against the next.

The Boston Celtics faced off against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in The Bubble just two years ago. This time around, there will be no bubble. FTX Arena and TD Garden will be bumping. Jimmy Butler will look to make it back to the Finals, while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown hope to make their first.

On the other side of the bracket, it’s the old guard vs. the new guard. Stephen Curry and the powerhouse Golden State Warriors vs. Luka Doncic. What wins, experience or youth?

But before we can get to the Conference Finals, we need to discuss the two Game 7s that just went down yesterday. We saw two modern-day versions of Larry Bird carry their teams.

Luka Doncic and... Grant Williams?

Let’s get to the games.

Grant Williams blows out the Bucks

Heading into Game 7, people were already talking about the magnitude of this series. Celtics vs. Bucks has been easily the most entertaining series in the playoffs. Despite two rather convincing wins in Games 1 and 2, Games 3, 4, 5, and 6 were electric. Neither team was willing to give an inch, and Game 7 was supposed to be the final battle.

Grant Williams had other ideas.

Williams led the game in scoring and probably leads the league in confidence right now, too. The third-year forward dropped a career-high 27 points and made NBA history in the process. Williams shot 7-of-18 from three-point range, and his seven threes tied Stephen Curry’s record for most threes in a Game 7. In addition, his 18 three-point attempts are the second-most ever attempted in a playoff game. All that’s without even mentioning Payton Pritchard’s 14 points off the bench.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown played well, too, but they were far from the game's headlining story. And when that’s the case, it’s either really good or really bad. In Game 7, it resulted in a 28-point victory.

However, Williams’ big night should not take away from how amazing Giannis Antetokounmpo was in this series. Sure, the Celtics' defense held him to below-average shooting numbers, but what he accomplished against Boston was genuinely incredible. The Greek Freak scored 237 points, grabbed 103 rebounds, and dished out 50 assists throughout the course of the seven-game series. G.B.O.A.T. (Greatest Buck of All-Time.)

Boston will now head to Miami for the Eastern Conference Finals, a trip that Deuce Tatum is very excited to make.

Luka Magic, Dinwiddie embarrass Suns in Phoenix

Wow. Celtics vs. Bucks didn’t live up to expectations, but this game took “not living up to expectations" to a new level. Luka Doncic has officially arrived.

Heading into Game 7, the home team had won every game. Apparently, Doncic was sick of that. The Slovenian superstar dropped 35 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists. He went absolutely berserk en route to a 33-point win for the Mavs. At one point, Dallas was up by as many as 46 points.

Spencer Dinwiddie has to be discussed, too, as he dropped 30 off the bench for the Mavs. The veteran point guard went from being called an issue in Washington to helping knock off the best team in the NBA. His journey this season has been amazing to watch.

Unfortunately, we also have to talk about the other side of things. The Suns just didn’t come to play. Devin Booker failed to make a shot for the entirety of the first half, with his only two points coming at the free-throw line. Chris Paul shot efficiently, but Jae Crowder ended the game with more shot attempts than him. In a Game 7, that just won’t fly. Phoenix had 27 points at the half. Doncic had 27 points in the first half by himself.

If it sounds like I’m just firing off a bunch of facts, that’s because I am. There’s no analysis needed for this game. One team came to play, and the other one didn’t. This is why Game 7s can be so dangerous. Anything can happen.

Now, we’ll get to see Doncic take on the Warriors dynasty in the Western Conference Finals. Talk about an awesome storyline.

76ers secure Doc Rivers’ job

After the Philadelphia 76ers were eliminated from the playoffs, speculation arose as to whether or not head coach Doc Rivers would be fired. However, Sixers GM Daryl Morey put those talks to rest on Friday night.

Reporters asked Morey whether or not he could guarantee Rivers would be back next season. Most teams would respond with a non-committal answer in order to keep their options open. Not Morey, though. He responded with a resounding “yes.”

Rivers and the Sixers have been eliminated in the second round for two years in a row. Last year, it was at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks. This year, it was the Miami Heat.

Mike D’Antoni top Hornets candidate

According to long-time NBA Insider Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, former Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni is the leading candidate for the Charlotte Hornets' open coaching position. His sources told him that the Hornets “like the idea of what he can do with LaMelo (Ball) and their running game.”

D’Antoni is currently a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans and was an assistant for the Brooklyn Nets last season. His most recent head coaching gig came in Houston when he coached the James Harden-led Rockets from 2016 to 2020. The 71-year-old coach also has experience coaching the Los Angeles Lakers (2012-2014), New York Knicks (2008-2012), Phoenix Suns (2003-2008), and Denver Nuggets (1998).

Rhyne Howard drops WNBA season-high

While the NBA was busy with two Game 7s, the WNBA watched Rhyne Howard drop the most points scored by a player this season. Howard, a 22-year-old rookie who was the number-one pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft, scored 33 points, leading the Atlanta Dream past the Indiana Fever.

Howard shot 9-of-18 from the field and 3-of-8 from behind the three-point line, getting it done all over the court. She also added three rebounds, two assists, and three steals to her totals. The rookie ranks fourth in the WNBA in scoring this season, averaging 20.8 points a night. The Dream have jumped out to a 3-1 record with her at the helm.

The Jayson Tatum this series had been waiting for finally showed up in Game 6 - Will Bjarnar (CelticsBlog)

Philadelphia 76ers latest collapse traced to losing Jimmy Butler - Joe Vardon (The Athletic)

Handpicked by Curry and Green to start, Kevon Looney was Warriors’ MVP of Game 6 - Madeline Kenney (The Mercury News)

What the Utah Jazz will do this offseason... unless they don’t - James Hansen (SLC Dunk)

The ‘bubble fraud’ narrative is dead - Diego Quezada (Hot Hot Hoops)

Since there are no games today, let’s look at the upcoming series between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, as Game 1 is set for Tuesday. We’ll leave Warriors vs. Mavericks for Conor to preview in Wednesday’s newsletter.

Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat - 8:30 p.m. EST

While both of these teams have superstars, they’re also the best examples of team basketball in the Eastern Conference. Both have fantastic depth and boast incredible defenses. Tatum and Butler will take the reigns on most nights, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have backup.

This series will be the biggest test for the Heat by far. And while it will probably be Boston’s most challenging series as well, that’s a hard claim to make considering they just went seven games against arguably the best player on the planet. That being said, expect this series to go six or seven games.

Well, both Game 7s were pretty disappointing. Unless you’re a Celtics or Mavericks fan, that is. Game 7s are supposed to come down to the wire, just like we saw with Kawhi Leonard a few years ago. The two Game 7s we got on Sunday were 30-point blowouts.

Regardless, every second-round series went to six or seven games, which was super fun to watch. Let’s just hope that the Conference Finals live up to that hype as well.

That'll be it for me. Thanks for reading. See y'all next time.

- Jack Simone

Last Trivia Answer: The answer to Friday’s trivia question was the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Hornets. The Nuggets blew out the Hornets 121-63 in Game 4 of Round 1 in the 2009 NBA Playoffs. Ironically enough, that Hornets team had Chris Paul on it, who just got blown out by 33 against the Mavs.

Trivia Question: Grant Williams attempted 18 threes on Sunday night. Only one player in NBA history has attempted more threes in a playoff game. It happened in 2018. Who was that player?