NBA: Sixers advance, Phoenix sets up Western semis showdown with Dallas

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Philadelphia 76ers put an end to the Toronto Raptors’ hopes of a series comeback after demolishing them in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference first-round playoffs, 132-97, while the Phoenix Suns finished the resilient and young New Orleans Pelicans squad, 115-109, to set up a Western Conference semifinal meeting with Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.

Joel Embiid led the Philadelphia assault and finished the close-out game with an emphatic 33 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks.

Despite a finger injury that bothered him throughout the series, the NBA Most Valuable Player candidate dominated and shot 12/18 from the field.

Toronto got hot early and took the lead from Philadelphia but a strong third quarter from Embiid and company made a huge difference after outscoring them 37-17.

It was the exact scenario in the final canto as the 76ers continued to shoot well and fed the hot Embiid in the paint for several easy deuces.

The superb backcourt tandem of Tyrese Maxey and James Harden also balled out and shot the lights out after combining for 47 points, 25 and 22, respectively.

Meanwhile, 2021 Western Conference champions Phoenix Suns eliminated the New Orleans Pelicans to advance to the semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks.

It was a positive sight to see for Phoenix as main offensive weapon Devin Booker made his comeback after suffering an injury that kept him out for the last three games.

However, New Orleans refused to back down from the challenge and gave all sorts of problems to Phoenix who trailed for most of the three quarters.

CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram kept New Orleans’ hopes of extending the series into seven games but Chris Paul once again took over and made NBA history.

The ‘Point God’ shot a perfect 14/14 from the field, 1/1 from the three-point area and 4/4 from the charity stripe.

Paul’s insane close-out game recorded a new NBA playoff record for most shot attempts without a single miss.

The savvy veteran point guard chipped in 33 points, eight assists, and five rebounds while hitting the dagger stop-and-pop perimeter jump shot that gave Phoenix a five-point lead, 112-107, with 28 seconds left in the game.

In the other game of the NBA playoff triple-header, the Dallas Mavericks ousted Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz, 98-96.

Dallas stormed back from a 12-point deficit heading into the third quarter and took advantage of Rudy Gobert every time he was switched to Doncic.

Utah had the chance to win but the wide-open three-point attempt from Bojan Bogdanovic from the left elbow missed.