NBA Hoosiers (Aug. 23): Anunoby, Langford Advance to 2nd Round in Playoffs

OG Anunoby and Romeo Langford never played at Indiana together, but they're going to see a lot of each other the next couple of weeks in the NBA bubble in Orlando.

Anunoby's Toronto Raptors, the defending world champions, completed a sweep of the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, winning 150-122. Anunoby had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, and was stellar on the defensive end once again. Plus-minus ratings aren't everything, but it is a snapshot of overall performance, and thus far, Anunoby is among the league leaders in the first round.

NBA Playoffs +/-

1) Norman Powell +62 (4 games)
2) Serge Ibaka +61 (4 games)
3) Kyle Lowry +58 (4* games)
3) Jayson Tatum +58 (4 games)
5) OG Anunoby +56 (4 games)
6) Fred VanVleet +54 (4 games)
7) Bam Adebayo +50 (3 games)
8) Pascal Siakam +50 (4 games)
— Jordan (@416Basketball) August 24, 2020

The Celtics advanced as well, sweeping out their arch rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers with a 110-106 victory. Romeo Langford played only four minutes for Boston and did not score.

Their second-round series will start on Thursday.

Here are Sunday's results and what to expect from a full slate of NBA playoff games on Monday.

Sunday's results

Toronto Raptors 150, Brooklyn Nets 122: The Raptors lost All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry to an injury, but his teammates had his back in the blowout. The bench players scored 100 points, setting an NBA record in Game 4 and closing out the series. Lowry's status for the second round, which doesn't start until Thursday, is unknown. He's getting an MRI on Monday. Former Hoosier OG Anunoby finished the series averaging 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Boston Celtics 110, Philadephia 76ers 106: Boston completed its series sweep as well, using strong defense to eliminate their arch rivals. Former Hoosier Romeo Langford played a total of 38 minutes in the series, and scored 8 points. Next up is a showdown with the Toronto Raptors in the second round. “We've got to play at a high level on both sides of the ball in the playoffs, and we’ve got to rebound,” said Jaylen Brown. “Philly was a physical team and things like that, they definitely wore us down at times, so it’ll be good to get a couple of days and look forward to Toronto.”
Utah Jazz 129, Denver Nuggets 127: The sixth-seeded Jazz are now just one win away from closing out the Nuggets after winning this thriller on Sunday, grabbing a 3-1 series lead. Former Hoosier Juwan Morgan came off the bench and played 11 minutes. He didn't score, but had four rebounds. Donovan Mitchell had 51 for the Jazz and Denver's Jamal Murray had 50.
Dallas Mavericks 135, Los Angeles Clippers 133, OT: Dallas evened its series with LA in a thrilled overtime battle that was won on Luka Doncic's game-winner. Doncic had 43 points for Mark Cuban's Mavericks, and a pair of former Michigan products — Tim Hardaway Jr and Trey Burke — played great as well. They had 21 and 25 points respectively.

Monday's games

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Orlando Magic, 1:30 p.m. ET (TV: NBATV): Milwaukee has looked good in two victories after that Game 1 upset. MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 31.3 points and 16.0 rebounds in the series.
Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 4 p.m. ET (TV: TNT): Houston is up 2-1 in this series, even though former Hoosier Eric Gordon and All-Star James Harden haven't really found their groove from three-point range yet. Gordon is averaging 18 points a game so far in the series.
Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat, 6:30 p.m. ET (TV: TNT): The Pacers are in trouble, down 3-0 now because they're having a hard time controlling the Heat shooters. Former Hoosier Victor Oladipo is averagingh 15.3 points per game in the series.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers, 8:30 p.m. ET (TV: ABC): The Lakers bounced back from an opening-game upset, and lead the series 2-1.