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Monday's NBA playoffs takeaways

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By Jay King, Jared Weiss, Manny Navarro, Tony Jones, Will Guillory and John Hollinger

Though the Boston Celtics took care of business on the road, defeating the Miami Heat 102-88 on Monday, they also received a scare when Kristaps Porziņģis immediately called for a sub after tweaking his right calf late in the second quarter. While he limped off the court and into the locker room, the frustration on his face was evident, prompting fear he had suffered a serious injury. When the Celtics ruled him doubtful to return to Game 4, that was taken as a positive sign that he had likely avoided a dreaded Achilles injury.

During a news conference, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla had no update on Porziņģis but said Jayson Tatum, who rolled his ankle in the fourth quarter, was moving OK and looks like he is fine. Porziņģis left the locker room wearing a walking boot following the game. In a post on X, he thanked fans for "all the support" and added he "will be good."

good W tonight. DWhite is special!!

Thanks for all the support, will be good 💪

— Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) April 30, 2024

Porziņģis' calf could still be a problem. He missed seven games because of a calf issue in November and December. Despite his initial doubtful status update, Porziņģis was not on the bench when the second half opened, leaving Al Horford to start the third quarter in his place.

Porziņģis finished his night with seven points and three rebounds.

Kristaps Porzingis heads to the locker room after suffering an apparent non-contact injury at the end of the second quarter.

🎥 @NBCSCeltics pic.twitter.com/LbA9gafgC4

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 30, 2024

Here are Monday's playoff takeaways.

Celtics 102, Heat 88

Series: Boston leads 3-1

Game 5: Wednesday in Boston

How much of a concern would a long Porziņģis absence be?

Tatum recently called Porziņģis "probably our most important guy on our team for what we're trying to accomplish." The Celtics see Porziņģis as the answer to some of their old flaws, a cheat code of sorts for teams who will try to take away Boston's rhythm by switching everything. Though the Celtics went 21-4 without Porziņģis this season, he transforms them on both ends of the court. If he misses extended time, Horford would need to take on a heavier burden in the frontcourt, which is not necessarily ideal for the 37-year-old. Behind him, Mazzulla could either use Luke Kornet or Xavier Tillman as a second center. Neither of those options would come close to replicating Porziņģis' versatility as a scorer.

GO DEEPER

Kristaps Porziņģis' hot shooting, sprained ankle underscore his importance to Celtics offense

With Porziņģis' long injury history, the team spent much of the season trying to manage his body and prepare him to stay healthy at this time of the year. This injury is, at the very least, a setback and could become a major storyline if he needs to sit out for an extended period. For a playoff injury, the timing doesn't seem terrible, though. The Celtics, up 3-1 against the Heat, would either face the Cleveland Cavaliers or Orlando Magic in the next round and still be heavy favorites without Porziņģis. — Jay King, Celtics beat writer

In Porziņģis' absence, Derrick White puts his stamp on the series

While the Celtics await news on Porziņģis' injury, they can take solace in Derrick White having had one of the best games of his career. White finished with a new playoff career-high 38 points in the victory. That mark is the second-most without a free-throw attempt in NBA playoff history, trailing only Chuck Person for the Indiana Pacers (39 against Celtics in Game 2 of 1991 first round).

White was electric shooting the ball but took it to another level when he started throwing down dunks in the third quarter to help the Celtics regain control of the game. After Tatum rolled his ankle, the Celtics will look for White to ease the playmaking burden on him.

As Boston tries to close out the series in Game 5, it will rely on White to continue his hot shooting and defensive acuity. He took on a bigger role covering Tyler Herro and chasing him over screens nonstop in Game 4, something the Heat will have to rework if they want to extend the series.

Jrue Holiday is usually the guard defender Boston uses to knock guys off their rhythm, but White was great at rushing Herro out of his comfort zone and getting some stops at the rim. Miami's only way back into this series is another eruption from Herro, both as a shooter and a playmaker, so White will be the key to Game 5 as the Celtics look to move on to the second round. — Jared Weiss, Celtics beat writer

GO DEEPER

Derrick White and his 'ultimate green light' carry the Celtics in Miami

Have the Heat exhausted all options?

Fifty-six seconds. That's how long the Heat have held the lead since this first-round playoff series shifted south from Boston tied at 1.

The good news for Miami? Those 56 seconds came Monday night after Nikola Jovic hit a corner 3 to give the Heat a 3-2 lead at the start of Game 4. That's technically progress.

The Celtics have dominated this series since the Heat stole Game 2 with a franchise playoff-record 3-point shooting barrage. Boston has suffocated Miami's ballhandlers and diffused the Heat's perimeter shooting.

The Celtics led by as many as 28 on Monday before the Heat trimmed it down to 13 with about five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. That was the extent of the excitement as Miami shot 9 of 33 from 3-point range (27.3 percent) and turned it over 13 times (Herro had five).

Counter moves? Coach Erik Spoelstra doesn't have any other available weapons to turn to. He's played everyone he can. Delon Wright and Patty Mills played a combined 51 minutes and tallied 11 points. Duncan Robinson — and his ailing back — played three minutes and missed his only 3-point shot. Kevin Love went 0 of 2 from beyond the arc in seven minutes off the bench.

The Heat have exhausted all of their options. Game 5 and elimination awaits Wednesday. — Manny Navarro, Miami sports writer

GO DEEPER

Miami Heat, running low on options, could be down another starter in Boston

Nuggets 108, Lakers 106

Series: Denver wins 4-1

JAMAL MURRAY CALLED GAME… AGAIN 🥶 pic.twitter.com/VM9Lzm8qz9

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 30, 2024

Nuggets can take a well-deserved rest

Jamal Murray's game-winning jumper with three seconds remaining Monday night ended Denver's series with the Los Angeles Lakers, and perhaps not a moment too soon for the Nuggets.

The bumps and bruises for the Nuggets are starting to add up. Murray's calf is a big talking point. But the health of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is big as well. He sprained his ankle during the first half of Game 5. He fought through it in the second half and made multiple big shots in the second half. But, he wasn't 100 percent. He was far from it.

Winning on Monday night means a second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves will start Saturday. That gives the Nuggets the remainder of the week to heal and get their scouting right for Minnesota, and what promises to be a long and grueling series.

"We were all banged up," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "We didn't know who we were going to have to finish the game."

Had the Nuggets not won Monday night, they would have been looking at a Game 6 on Thursday and less of a rest for the next series. The Nuggets didn't need that, mentally or physically. — Tony Jones, NBA staff writer

GO DEEPER

'He's one tough cookie': Jamal Murray has cemented himself as an all-time playoff performer

What's next for the Lakers?

Having been eliminated by the Nuggets in two consecutive postseasons, the Lakers face numerous questions heading into the offseason. What's next for LeBron James? Will the Lakers retain coach Darvin Ham?

The Athletic's Shams Charania, Jovan Buha and Sam Amick go inside a Lakers season gone wrong:

"By the time the Lakers' season ended in Game 5 against Denver on Monday night, when Jamal Murray's second game-winner of the first-round series sent the Lakers home less than a year after the Nuggets swept them last May, there were strong signs within the organization that Ham would be deemed most responsible."

Read their full story here.

(Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images)

Thunder 97, Pelicans 89

Series: OKC wins 4-0

The difference between age and maturity

The Thunder passed their first playoff test with flying colors and will progress to the more difficult part of the examination. Oklahoma City advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since Kevin Durant left in 2016, punctuated by an 18-2 fourth-quarter run.

With superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander appearing limited after turning his ankle along the Thunder bench at the end of the first quarter, emerging second-year pro Jalen Williams did much of the damage in crunch time. He punctuated the fourth-quarter run by scoring the last eight points with two 3-pointers bracketing a pair of free throws. He finished with a team-high 24 points.

Gilgeous-Alexander also had 24, while the Thunder got an unexpected boost with four made 3-pointers from forward Josh Giddey — including two consecutive ones that kicked off their big run.

The win allows Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault a few days to dry off after the newly crowned Coach of the Year got a water shower from the league's youngest roster in the locker room. "Our players are idiots," he joked as he showed up soaked for his news conference.

"There's a difference between age and maturity," Daigneault said of his young squad.

More seriously, this gives Gilgeous-Alexander at least five days to recover before the next series (against either the Mavericks or Clippers) begins. (It will start either Sunday or Tuesday in Oklahoma City). Daigneault said Gilgeous-Alexander would need treatment on the off days but should be good to go for the games.

Realistically, things get more serious now for the Thunder. Oklahoma City will face a much sterner test against either second-round foe than it did versus a Pelicans team that was missing Zion Williamson and faces a big deficit in playoff experience. The Thunder won three of four against Dallas in the regular season and two of three against the Clippers, and will have home-court advantage as the West's top seed. — John Hollinger, senior NBA writer

Brandon Ingram's disappointing series

OKC completed the first-round sweep with a 97-89 victory that ended the Pelicans' season. It was the fourth straight game the Pels failed to score more than 92 points and the second straight home game where they were held under 90.

While the overall failure of the offense is the story of this series, the driving force behind it was Brandon Ingram's horrendous series. As if his play wasn't underwhelming enough, Ingram finished the series by scoring eight points in Game 4 on 2-of-14 shooting. It was one of the worst games he's played in a Pelicans uniform and a clear indication of how much the Thunder were in his head by the end of this series.

Lu Dort deserves credit for playing tremendous defense throughout the matchup, but this was a major black eye for Ingram and his attempts to prove he should be considered one of the NBA's upper-echelon forwards. The physicality from Dort and others was too much for Ingram to handle and his lack of burst left him with few means to make an impact elsewhere. There will be a lot of heat on the Pelicans over the next few months for the depressing way this season ended, but no one will feel it more than Ingram. — Will Guillory, Pelicans beat writer

Tuesday's schedule:

Required reading

(Photo: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)

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