NBA Playoffs 2024: Siakam on a tear, and road teams finally pick up a couple wins

Indiana Pacers' Pascal Siakam tries to get past Milwaukee Bucks' Brook Lopez during the second half of Game 2 of the first round NBA playoff basketball series Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Milwaukee.The Pacers won 125-108 to tie the series 1-1. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

By The Associated Press

Pascal Siakam scored more points than anyone else in the NBA on Sunday. He did the same thing again on Tuesday.

And finally, road teams made a dent in these NBA playoffs.

Siakam became the first player in the last decade to have at least 73 points and 24 rebounds in the first two games of the playoffs. He helped the Indiana Pacers get the first road victory of this year’s opening round, as they topped the Milwaukee Bucks 125-108 on Tuesday night.

Another road winner quickly followed: Dallas evened up its series by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 96-93.

Home teams started these playoffs 12-0, the last of those wins coming in Tuesday’s opener when Minnesota downed Phoenix 105-93 to take a 2-0 lead in the opening-round series. It was the best home start to a playoff season since 2004, when teams started 13-0 on their floors. The record remains a 15-0 start by home playoff teams in 1990.

NATIONAL TV SCHEDULE

Wednesday

7 p.m. — Miami at Boston, TNT/TruTV

9:30 p.m. — New Orleans at Oklahoma City, TNT/TruTV

Thursday

7 p.m. — Cleveland at Orlando, NBA TV

7:30 p.m. — New York at Philadelphia, TNT/TruTV

10 p.m. — Denver at L.A. Lakers, TNT/TruTV

Friday

5:30 p.m. — Milwaukee at Indiana, ESPN

8 p.m. — L.A. Clippers at Dallas, ESPN

10:30 p.m. — Minnesota at Phoenix, ESPN

BETTING GUIDE

Boston has home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs and currently is the favorite to win the championship, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

The Celtics are listed at +140, ahead of defending champion Denver (+240). Next up: Oklahoma City (+1400), then Dallas, Minnesota and New York (+1600). From there, it’s the Los Angeles Clippers (+1800) and Milwaukee (+2000).

After that, it’s Philadelphia (+4000), then Cleveland, Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers (+5000). Then the odds get real long — Indiana is +10000, New Orleans +20000, Miami is +30000 and Orlando is +50000.

AWARD SEASON

The NBA awards started getting announced Tuesday, when Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey won Most Improved Player over Chicago’s Coby White.

Another comes out on Wednesday when the Sixth Man of the Year trophy is awarded to either Sacramento’s Malik Monk, Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis or Minnesota’s Naz Reid.

Clutch Player of the Year comes out Thursday (Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan or Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and Coach of the Year follows Sunday (Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault, Minnesota’s Chris Finch or Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley).

All those announcements will be made on TNT’s pregame shows that night.

The schedule for the other awards has yet to be revealed. There’s Rookie of the Year (San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren or Charlotte’s Brandon Miller), Defensive Player of the Year (Wembanyama, Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert or Miami’s Bam Adebayo) and Most Valuable Player (Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Dallas’ Luka Doncic or Gilgeous-Alexander).

WHAT TO KNOW

— The NBA says Tyrese Maxey was fouled twice, neither of them called, in crucial late sequence of Game 2 of 76ers-Knicks series.

— Injury news: Giannis Antetokounmpo remained out for the Bucks, a rusty Kawhi Leonard came back for the Clippers, and the Suns’ Grayson Allen is hurt as well.

— Tyrese Haliburton says a slur was directed at his brother in Game 1 of Pacers-Bucks series.

— Dame Time, in these playoffs, has been the first half. Damian Lillard has scored 61 points in two first halves of Bucks-Pacers.

— The Minnesota ownership mess is headed to mediation.

— Preview for Wednesday’s games: Heat-Celtics, Pelicans-Thunder.

STAT OF THE DAY

Pascal Siakam (36 points and 13 rebounds in Game 1, 37 points and 11 rebounds in Game 2) is the third player to open the playoffs with back-to-back games of at least 35 points and 10 rebounds.

The others: Wilt Chamberlain (41-22, 37-27) in 1967 and Elgin Baylor (40-18, 49-21) in 1961.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“You’ve got to trust him, and you’ve got to let him be him and allow him to grow. He’s very young still, very well-accomplished, but I know his overall goal is to win a championship.” — Dallas guard Kyrie Irving, on playing alongside Luka Doncic.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba