Devin Booker loves and admires Klay Thompson, but that does not excuse him from being competitive after their verbal spar led to the Golden State Warriors guard's ejection from Tuesday's game.
Booker scored 34 points as the Phoenix Suns won 134-105 over the Warriors, with Thompson ejected for the first time in his career during a heated third quarter between two of the top Western Conference contenders at Footprint Center.
Thompson was thrown out of the game after consecutive technical fouls, instigated by a heated exchange with Booker that went on for several minutes.
The pair bumped chests and exchanged words, leading to double technicals for both players, but Thompson boiled over during an ensuing timeout and was thrown out after yelling at the officials, despite being restrained by Stephen Curry and assistant coach Chris DeMarco.
"I love Klay Thompson," Booker told ESPN during his on-court interview after the game. "I have from the beginning, from the draft coming out, I said I wanted to be Klay Thompson.
"But that doesn’t excuse us from competing against each other and talking a little mess with each other. I had fun with it. I'm a big fan of his and his competitive nature and that's that."
When asked at the press conference what Thompson said to Booker, he said: "They have four rings. Repeated over and over. And they do."
Thompson managed only two points on one-of-eight shooting, with that frustration boiling over, while Booker kept his composure to an extent. The Warriors guard was still shouting at the Suns bench as he was walked out following his ejection.
"He was having a tough night," Booker said. "I think everything plays into his frustration. I've been there before.
"You know what they have, they've got the four rings, they're going to use that in all the trash talk, rightfully so, respectfully. But that doesn't have anything to do with competing.
"I've always admired his game, how he plays on both sides of the ball and obviously the rings speak for themselves. Like I said, I'm going to bring it every time."
Thompson's ejection comes amid a sluggish start to the season for the five-time All-Star shooting guard, averaging 14.0 points on 40.5 per cent shooting from the field, while he has made eight-of-28 three-point attempts at 34.8 per cent.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr understood Thompson's frustration but tried to offer some perspective to his frustrated four-time NBA champion.
"One thing I will remind Klay on, he's had plenty of slow starts in his career," Kerr said. "I remember several years ago where he really struggled for the three-point line in his first four or five games.
"Klay cares so much about the game, his own impact on our team. He wants it so badly and he's trying to force everything right now. He's trying too hard. I'll remind him of that."
'We're not here to play around' - Brown praises Celtics reaction
Jaylen Brown praised the Boston Celtics for proving to themselves they are "not here to play around" in their 106-93 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3.
The Celtics' win on Saturday edged them into a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals after losing Game 2 with a defensive performance Brown described as "unacceptable".
At Cleveland, they bounced back - Jayson Tatum had 33 points and 12 rebounds, while Brown added 28 points as the Celtics avoided a second consecutive defeat.
"I think we just need everybody to be on the same page and everybody to come out with the right effort," Brown said.
"That's 85% of the battle right there. We come out, we play hard, and then we're on the same page and the rest will take care of itself. We got enough talent in the locker room to beat teams.
"But if we're not on the same page, and we're not playing hard, those are when we get ourselves in trouble. So making sure, before the game at film and shootaround, talking to everybody, touching everybody, letting everybody know that 'Hey, we're not here to play around.'
"We didn't come to Cleveland for the weather, so let's go.
"It's the playoffs. Anything can happen, especially if you come out flat. We've got to do a better job of that, we can't think like this series is going to go like last series.
"We've got to come out and have the same defensive effort going into Game 4 and that's just the urgency we need to have."
Donovan Mitchell starred for Cleveland, scoring 33 points, but was forced off late in the game due to a knee injury, and despite showing signs of a comeback, they could not find any answers in the fourth quarter.
"I just think we didn't hit the same shots we did [in Game 2]," Mitchell said.
"For us, just being able to finish. We missed a lot of shots at the rim, myself included, missed a lot of shots that I think we just got to make. And also, we didn't really shoot that great from 3, but not a bad per cent, but we didn't shoot that well.
"So I think those are different things, and we got to get our looks and take them, because if we don't, we're driving back into the crowd, and they want us to. So being able to take our shots when they're open."
NBA: Celtics, Mavericks take 2-1 leads in conference semifinals
Jayson Tatum had 33 points and 12 rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 28 points as the Boston Celtics rode a bounce-back performance for a 106-93 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
After losing Game 2 at home by 24, the top-seeded Celtics looked more like themselves on Cleveland’s home court.
Tatum opened the second half with a three-point play to ignite a 14-0 run that gave Boston a 71-48 lead.
The Cavaliers got the deficit down to nine three times in the fourth quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Payton Pritchard and Derrick White midway through the period ended any hope of a comeback.
Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points for Cleveland, but aggravated a left knee injury in the fourth quarter and was laboured. With Boston up 13 with 1:19 left, he left the court and walked directly to the locker room.
Evan Mobley added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had won their first four home playoff games. They haven’t won consecutive postseason contests since taking the first two against Orlando in the first round.
Cleveland was again without starting center Jarrett Allen, who missed his sixth straight game with a painful rib injury.
Boston center Kristaps Porzingis missed his fourth consecutive game with a calf strain.
Mavericks take 2-1 lead on Thunder
Kyrie Irving hit a running left-hander in the lane in the final minute and scored 22 points as the Dallas Mavericks held on for a 105-101 victory over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Luka Dončić also had 22 points to go with 15 rebounds and P.J. Washington added 27 points, two shy of his playoff high from the previous game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 31 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks as the top-seeded Thunder lost their second straight after opening 5-0 in the playoffs.
Game 4 is Monday night in Dallas.
Chet Holmgren had 13 points and four of the Thunder’s 11 blocks, but Oklahoma City was outrebounded 16-5 on the offensive glass and outscored 16-9 in second-chance points.
Irving bounced back from scoring nine points in Game 2 with 14 points in the second half alone, including six consecutive Dallas points in the fourth quarter that helped the Mavs to their biggest lead of the final period at nine.
Oklahoma City decided to foul Dereck Lively II intentionally in the fourth quarter, and he missed three of the first four free throws before he hit the next four in a row to put Dallas up 100-95 with 3:06 left.
After Gilgeous-Alexander made two free throws, Irving’s basket restored the Mavericks’ five-point lead.
NBA: Nuggets end Timberwolves' perfect postseason with rout, Pacers edge Knicks
Nikola Jokić had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists and Jamal Murray bounced back with 24 points as the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 117-90 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points and Aaron Gordon had 13 for the Nuggets, who cruised to an easy win on the road after dropping the first two games at home.
They are the 30th team in the history of the NBA playoffs to lose the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series. Five of them have rallied to win, most recently the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round in 2021.
Game 4 is Sunday in Minneapolis.
Murray totalled just 25 points on 9-of-32 shooting over the first two games but was 11 of 21 in this one.
Denver shot 14 of 29 from 3-point range with Gordon and Porter combining to hit 7 of 9.
Anthony Edwards was held in check with 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 for a Wolves team that suffered its first loss in seven playoff games.
Minnesota shot 10 of 33 from long range and fell behind by as many as 34 points down the stretch.
Pacers rally to cut deficit to 2-1
Andrew Nembhard drilled a 31-foot, tiebreaking 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and Tyrese Haliburton had 35 points with six 3-pointers as the Indiana Pacers rallied for a 111-106 win over the banged-up New York Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 on Sunday in Indianapolis. New York held a nine-point lead with 9:45 remaining but was unable to hold the lead with star guard Jalen Brunson slowed by a right foot injury.
Nembhard scored all five of his points in the final minute, connecting on a long 3 as the shot clock expired to give the Pacers a 109-106 lead.
Brunson missed a potential tying 3 with 14 seconds left and finished with 26 points on 10-of-26 shooting.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 35 points and was 7 for 11 on 3s, while Alec Burks, who came in having played just 1 minute in the playoffs, scored 14 points in 21 minutes for the Knicks, who played without starting forward OG Anunoby.
It’s unclear whether Anunoby can recover from his injured left hamstring to play Sunday.,
Haliburton triggered Indiana’s comeback in the fourth quarter. He completed a three-point play and then made back-to-back layups to make it 98-96. After Brunson made a free throw, Pascal Siakam tied the score with a three-point play.
The teams traded the lead four more times, with Brunson’s 3 tying it at 106 with 42 seconds remaining.
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