Three former Arkansas basketball players are on rosters of teams remaining in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Here is an update on their performances:
Patrick Beverley — Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers eliminated the Utah Jazz, the 1 seed in the Western Conference, on Friday in truly remarkable fashion.
Behind one of the great and thrilling comebacks in NBA Playoff history, Los Angeles defeated the Jazz 131-119 and advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time in its 51-year history. On their home floor and in front of a capacity crowd for the first time this season, the Clippers erased a 25-point second-quarter deficit to win with ease.
Their reward is a matchup with the Phoenix Suns, the 2 seed in the West. The Suns eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the first round then swept the Denver Nuggets in the second.
Game 1 of the series is set for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on ABC.
The former Razorbacks guard was far from the story of the night for Los Angeles, but he made his presence felt in the comeback win, especially in the fourth quarter. Beverley, who had scored 17 points in the first five games of the series, added 12 on Friday, knocking down 3 of 4 three-point attempts and 3 of 4 shots at the free throw line.
The 12 points are his most in a playoff game since pitching in 17 in Game 5 of the Clippers’ first-round series against the Golden State Warriors in April 2019. Los Angeles outscored Utah by 19 points in his 26-plus minutes in the lineup.
Beverley’s first three-pointer and field goal of the game came at a great time for the Clippers. He buried a left-corner three with 10:02 to play, giving Los Angeles a 99-98 lead. His second triple put the Clippers ahead 123-114.
His final hit provided Los Angeles a 128-118 lead with 1:15 to go and guard Reggie Jackson with his 10th assist.
Beverley contributed a series-high four assists and three steals in the win. His finds led to three Jackson threes and a triple from Paul George that put the Clippers ahead 102-99 in the fourth quarter.
For the series, Beverley averaged 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 1 block over 17.9 minutes per game. After missing his first eight field goal attempts in Games 1 and 2, Beverley made 8 of his final 13 shots, including 4 of 7 threes.
And defensively, Utah players shot 11 of 37 (29.7%) for the series when defended by Beverley, according to NBA Advanced Stats. It was the best mark on the team.
Bobby Portis — Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks are moving on to the Eastern Conference finals.
Portis, however, did not impact the end of Milwaukee’s series with the Brooklyn Nets. In Game 7 on Saturday, Milwaukee defeated the Nets 115-111 in overtime.
It was the forward’s third consecutive DNP.
In the first eight games of the Bucks’ playoff run, Portis averaged 6.9 points on 48.9% from the floor and 4.6 rebounds per game. But in Milwaukee’s first four games against the Nets, those numbers dipped to 3.0 points and 4.0 rebounds, then his role diminished.
Portis saw the floor less than 12 minutes in Games 3 and 4. Overall, the Bucks were outscored by 29 points when he was in the lineup vs. the Nets, including minus-26 in Game 2, a 39-point Milwaukee loss.
Defensively, Portis held Nets players to 8 of 19 (42.1%) shooting when he was the nearest defender, according to NBA Advanced Stats.
Isaiah Joe — Philadelphia 76ers
Since scoring his first playoff bucket in Game 3 against the Atlanta Hawks, Joe has not played in the 76ers’ last three games.
The series is tied 3-3 entering Sunday’s Game 7, which is set to tip off at 7 p.m. on TNT. The winner moves on to the Eastern Conference finals and will face the Bucks.