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There will be a new NBA champion and the Denver Nuggets extended their season after the NBA playoff games on Friday in Orlando.
Celtics beat Raptors to face Heat in Eastern Conference Finals
The Celtics dug deep to dethrone the Toronto Raptors 92-87 in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals against the fifth seed Miami Heat beginning Tuesday.
Jayson Tatum had 29 points and 12 rebounds and Jaylen Brown had 21 for the Celtics.
Marcus Smart added 16 points and Kemba Walker 14 for No. 3 seed Boston in his third appearance in a conference finals in the past four seasons.
Fred VanVleet had 20 points to lead the Raptors, while Kyle Lowry scored 16 and Pascal Siakam had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Boston was up by one entering the room 72-71 and drilled seven points in a row to create an eight-point cushion 79-71.
The Celtics never gave up the lead after that, but the Raptors went to two 89-87 with less than a minute to play.
Tatum’s free throw raised the lead to three 90-87 and VanVleet missed a 3-pointer on the return.
Walker scored two free throws with 7.9 seconds left to seal the victory and end Toronto’s reign as NBA champions.
Nuggets stay alive
The Denver Nuggets stayed alive with a 111-105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Jamal Murray scored a team-high 26 points, Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and Paul Millsap scored 17 points for the Nuggets, still trailing 3-2 in the series.
Kawhi Leonard scored 36 points and Paul George finished with 26. Marcus Morris Sr. had 12 and Patrick Beverley added 10.
Denver was losing the entire game and took the lead with just over six minutes left in the game.
The Nuggets held the lead since then, but the Clippers cut the lead to two 102-100 with 1:58 to play.
Denver responded and led 107-100 before Kawhi hit a triple to make the score 107-103. Michael Porter Jr. came to the rescue and made two free throws to put the game out of reach.
The Clippers hope to advance to their first Western Conference final with a victory in Game 6 on Monday.
On the other hand, Denver is looking for a repeat of their comeback in their previous series in which they came out of a 3-1 deficit to surprise the Utah Jazz.
NBA evicts Rockets house from bubble
Houston Rockets forward Danuel House Jr. was evicted by the NBA for violating health and safety protocols after bringing a woman into the bubble.
“House had a guest in his hotel room for several hours on September 8 who was not authorized to be on campus,” the NBA said.
“Mr. House will be leaving the NBA campus and will not participate with the Rockets team in additional games this season.”
House hasn’t played in the past two games and the Rockets are on the brink of elimination against the Los Angeles Lakers, leading their Western Conference semifinal series 3-1.
What House and his companion did in their room was not disclosed.
Next season won’t start before Christmas
The 2020-21 NBA season will not begin before Christmas Day.
The league will also move the 2020 draft on November 18, which was originally scheduled for June, but was later moved to October 16 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The opening day and draft date will likely change again.
It was reported that by delaying the draft starting in October, the NBA and the players’ union would have additional time to amend certain aspects of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and set a salary cap and luxury tax for 2020-21.
The day of the moving draft would also change the free agency opening, currently scheduled for Oct. 18, the report added.
Meet ‘Lemon Pepper Lou’
Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams is cashing in on the “Lemon Pepper Lou” nickname he received when he took an infamous trip to a strip club famous for its chicken wings in Atlanta last July.
Williams has shared screenshots on Instagram showing that he officially has the trademark.
“Everyone makes jokes and T-shirts, but it’s going to cost them hahaha,” Williams said on Instagram.
Lemon Pepper Lou refers to the “Louwill Lemon Pepper BBQ” chicken wing flavor served by the nightspot.
For his actions, Williams was quarantined for a few days and also missed some games and paychecks.
Sonia Raman on the Grizzlies coaching staff
The Memphis Grizzlies have hired another woman to their coaching staff: MIT head coach Sonia Raman.
“We are beyond excited to welcome Sonia to the Memphis Grizzlies,” said Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins.
“He has a high basketball IQ and tremendous ability to teach the game, as well as a great passion for the game. She will be a great addition to our current coaching staff. “
Raman was hired after Niele Ivey, the team’s first assistant coach hired in 2019, left to coach the Notre Dame women’s basketball team last April.
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