NBA

O’Neale moved into the starting unit in place of Grayson Allen, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. However, it wasn’t a good performance for O’Neale, and he wrapped up his scoreless night with an airball with less than a minute left. If Allen remains sidelined for Game 4 on Sunday, O’Neale may get another start, but they’ll need a lot more out of him if they want to extend the series. He played 24 minutes in this game after playing 17 in their last one, which was also a scoreless night.

Phoenix’s big three combined to score 76 points on 26-of-52 shooting from the floor. None of them had a spectacular performance, but their total output was solid and efficient. However, it still wasn’t enough. Booker led the way, though he did pad his stats at the end with a few garbage-time buckets. If they want to keep their season alive in Game 4 on Sunday, they’re going to need a big performance from either Booker of KD. This was Book’s best game of the series, so we’ll see if he can carry anything over into the next one.

With Grayson Allen sidelined with an ankle injury, Gordon took on a larger role off the bench and ended up providing them with a nice scoring boost. He also gave them some defensive production, which isn’t characteristic for Gordon. If Allen is back on Sunday for Game 4, EG will lose out on minutes. He averaged 22 minutes across the first two games, but he had to play 34 minutes in Game 3. However, if Allen remains out, Gordon will be asked to take on more minutes once again.

KAT dealt with some foul trouble early in this game, which limited him to just 24 minutes of playing time. However, he was still able to turn in an effective stat line. He has committed 12 fouls in three games despite averaging just 25 minutes per game. They’re still monitoring his minutes after his extended absence, but he should play more if he stays out of foul trouble. It hasn’t hurt them yet, but it isn’t something that he can continue to do in the next round, where they’ll likely face off against Denver, barring the first ever 3-0 comeback in NBA history.

Minnesota has the Sixth Man of the Year on their team in Naz Reid, but NAW has also had a strong series off the bench, which continued in this game. Through three games, Alexander-Walker is averaging 14.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 3.0 triples in 31 minutes per game, despite coming off the bench. He didn’t get any steals in Game 3, but he continues to make a massive impact on the defensive end. He’ll continue to make life difficult for Devin Booker and Bradley Beal in Game 4 on Sunday.

After struggling in their Game 2 win, Edwards got back on track in this one. This was his highest-scoring game of the series, though it doesn’t match his playoff career-high of 41, which he set last year. Minnesota is now in complete control of the series, and they’ll look to close it out and advance to the next round on Sunday, where they’ll likely take on the Nuggets. Edwards isn’t the type of player that takes his foot off the gas, so expect him to have another big game in Game 4.

Harden tied Norman Powell as the leading scorer for the Clippers in this game. Harden was also able to contribute value across the board, though it wasn’t enough for them to get the win. He played 44 minutes in this game, which Tyronn Lue said was a result of Paul George being in foul trouble. Harden is still an effective player, but he’s going to need George to be better if they want to win this series without a healthy Kawhi Leonard. Harden will look to keep this production up in Game 4 on Sunday.

George was only able to play 11 minutes in the first half of this game because of some early foul trouble. He was better at staying on the floor in the second half, but he still had a poor performance after scoring 22 points in each of their first two games. PG now has committed 14 fouls through the first three games of this series, though it only limited his minutes in this one. He can’t impact the game from the sidelines, so he’ll need to clean this up moving forward, especially with Kawhi Leonard not at 100%

After the game, head coach Tyronn Lue said that Kawhi is “still dealing with knee inflammation that the team has to manage”. He also said that he believes that Leonard will be able to suit up for Game 4 on Sunday. It would be surprising if he wasn’t at least on the injury report, and he clearly isn’t 100%. Healthy superstars simply don’t play 25 minutes in a playoff game. If he isn’t able to play like a star, it’s hard to imagine them advancing to the second round. Hopefully this isn’t another “what if” year for the Clippers because of injuries, but it is starting to feel that way.

Irving got off to an incredibly slow start in this game and entered halftime with just two points. He played well in both of the first two games of this series, but he didn’t get things going in Game 3 until after the break. His 19 second-half points were enough to allow Dallas to hang on and win this game despite a below average shooting night from Luka Doncic. They’ll look to take a 3-1 lead in the series in Game 4 on Sunday.