NBA playoffs schedule and results: Warriors, Raptors roll on Monday

The Washington Wizards eliminated the Atlanta Hawks from playoff contention on Friday, and John Wall made sure to let his feelings toward opposing point guard Dennis Schroder be known. He aired his opinion when he posted a picture on Instagram, flooring Schroder with a between-the-legs pull-back (push-off) move in Game 2.

Wall’s post may have been in response to a similar image Schroder posted on Instagram in 2015, where he celebrated a second-round elimination of the Wizards.

The Utah Jazz have taken a commanding 3-2 series lead over the Los Angeles Clippers with a decisive Game 6 at home. The Clippers will try to keep their playoff hopes alive on Friday in a game airing on ESPN at 10:30 p.m. ET and available for live stream on WatchESPN.

The Jazz endured Games 1 through 3 without Rudy Gobert, who hyperextended his knee seconds into the first game. The Clippers won Games 2 and 3. Then Blake Griffin went down for the season with a plantar plate toe injury, and Los Angeles has spiraled since.

LeBron James may not be this year’s Most Valuable Player, but he’s easily the best basketball player in the world. By many standards, Kawhi Leonard is the second-best. His ability to dominate the game on both ends of the floor separates the Spurs’ All-Star into a class of his own.

As does his demeanor, which was on full display when a reporter alerted Leonard that TNT’s studio crew of Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley dubbed him the world’s second-best player.

The Los Angeles Clippers dropped Game 5 of their first-round playoff series at home to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, 96-92, falling to a 3-2 deficit with a must-win Game 6 coming up on the road in Utah. Chris Paul knew that better than anyone and had already intimated that his team’s back was against the wall.

So when a reporter asked the nine-time All-Star if the Clippers would indeed force a Game 7 and be back at the Staples Center to fight for a second-round appearance, Paul nearly embarrassed him, responding the only way he knew how: “What?”

After Jimmy Butler questioned Marcus Smart’s toughness following the Chicago Bulls’ Game 4 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday, the Celtics guard had to answer the age-old question: “Is he ‘bout that life?”

Smart’s comments were in response to Butler, who blasted him in the postgame press conference after Chicago’s 104-95 loss to the Bulls.

We’re down to 14 teams remaining in the NBA postseason thanks to the Golden State Warriors completing their sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night. The Warriors join the Cavaliers as the first two teams to move on to the second round and it’s starting to feel like we may very well see these two teams again June. The Raptors also took a 3-2 lead on the Bucks and the Hawks tied their series with the Wizards at two games a piece. Here is how it all went down.

It wasn’t DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry that led the Raptors to their Game 5 win. It was Serge Ibaka and Norman Powell. Powell stepped up when asked Monday night, as explained by our Raptors blog, Raptors HQ:

The Golden State Warriors sealed a playoff series sweep over the Portland Trail Blazers three minutes into the first quarter of Game 4. It was that ugly.

A 14-0 run started things off, and nothing got better for Portland. It was a reminder of how last season’s winningest team in NBA history added Kevin Durant.

The Wizards charged towards the end of the postseason looking like one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. With John Wall making a case for best point guard in the East, it looked as if Washington was ready to make a big postseason splash. And to an extent, they did. They came out and decidedly won their first two games in Washington to take a commanding 2-0 lead on the Hawks.

But when they got to Atlanta, they weren’t ready to end the Hawks there. They got blown out in Game 3, which you could write off as one bad game. But in Game 4 they had their chances, but ultimately let Atlanta off the hook. Now? The series is tied 2-2 and it will be a best out of three moving forward. The Wizards have plenty of time to redeem themselves but for now they look like a team not quite ready to be able to step on a team’s throat when they need to.

Norman Powell broke out for a career-high 25 points in the Toronto Raptors’ Game 5 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. On a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from deep, he led his team in points and brought the energy back into this series.

Powell got a stupid amount of air and a ridiculous amount of hang time on this.

The Toronto Raptors own a 3-2 series lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the NBA playoffs, after a 118-93 win in Game 5.

The Raptors held control of this game throughout until they completely pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Serge Ibaka was everywhere doing everything in the opening quarter of Game 5 between the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks.

He scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting including a shot from deep. He had three rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal, but most importantly he worked Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Golden State Warriors were without Kevin Durant and head coach Steve Kerr in Game 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers, but were still able to overcome a 16 point deficit and walk away with a 119-113 victory. Now up 3-0 in the series with all the momentum in their favor, the Warriors appear primed to complete a sweep of the Blazers’ Monday night in Game 4.

It looked like the Blazers had a chance before Game 3 quickly turned sour. Jusuf Nurkic returned to the lineup after sitting out the first two games, and the Blazers got off to a quick start, with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum seemingly unable to miss.

NBA fashion has quickly become one of the best things in sports, and the quest for bold individuality is only surpassed by two players wearing the same clothing. Enter Patrick Patterson and P.J. Tucker of the Toronto Raptors.

Ahead of Game 4 against the Bucks, the pair found themselves in the locker room wearing the identical $990 t-rex sweater.

Another NBA playoff series just got good. That’s the only takeaway from Game 3 of Washington Wizards vs. Atlanta Hawks that makes sense, with the Hawks answering back with a 116-98 win over the Wizards to narrow their deficit two games to one.

Washington won the first two games rather handily, but the Hawks hopped out against the Wizards early on and didn’t look back. Paul Millsap scored 29 points with 14 rebounds and five assists, and Dennis Schroder added 27 of his own.