NBA playoff scores 2017: Raptors, Spurs advance to Round 2 of playoffs

We lost two more teams on Thursday night to the NBA playoffs. The Grizzlies and Bucks both played the brilliant role of underdog this postseason but ultimately fell to their superiors. We’ll miss Mike Conley proving he was worth every penny of that contract he got last summer. We’ll also miss Giannis Antetokounmpo making us believe that anything is possible. Here is how it went down.

Yes, it was another day, another NBA team blowing a huge lead. The Pacers already did it once this playoffs. The Raptors did it too on Thursday night. Luckily, they were able to get back on their feet and find a way to win.

The Toronto Raptors nearly collapsed all the way in the fourth quarter of Game 6, when they allowed the Milwaukee Bucks to go on a 34-7 run to retake the lead with 2 minutes and 29 seconds to go. Their advantage was once as many as 25 points. That faded into the final minutes. It could of been one biggest blown leads in NBA playoff history and would have forced an all-deciding Game 7. Instead, Toronto will limp into the second-round, winning the series in the most Raptors way ever with a 92-89 victory.

Giannis was fantastic for the Bucks as usual, but you could see he was visibly exhausted after leading the Bucks on their massive comeback. By the time the game was over, they barely had anything left.

His performance at the free-throw line hurt, but playing all but two minutes of this game, he finished with 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting, three assists and nine rebounds. He was huffing and puffing his way down the floor, but provided for his team on both ends of the floor in a game he needed to play nearly all of.

We’ll miss the Greek Freak. Until next year.

Many predicted the Spurs to win this series in four or five games. No one believed in the Grizzlies except the Grizzlies and they had every right to feel that way. The Grizzlies put the Spurs in a position they weren’t used to being in, and while the Spurs were getting everything from Kawhi Leonard, they were going to need someone else to step up. It took everything they had to put the Grizzlies away in Game 6, including a vintage performance from Tony Parker.

The Spurs were down 82-79 when Leonard and Parker entered the game with 8:18 to go. The Grizzlies then extended their lead to six with 7:11 remaining and at that point Leonard scored eight straight points for the Spurs. He followed that up with two assists to Tony Parker to seal the deal. The Spurs finished the game on a 22-8 run.

Parker finished the night 10-of-13 from the field with 27 points in the Spurs’ closeout game. San Antonio has been needing someone else to step up and help Leonard in this series. It’s an unusual problem for the Spurs to have, but it’s definitely been a problem. In a closeout Game 6, it was Tony Parker who made that all go away.

Raptors 92, Bucks 89 (Raptors HQ recap | Brew Hoop recap)

Spurs 103, Grizzlies 96 (Pounding the Rock recap | Grizzly Bear Blues recap)