Premier NBA Playoffs Highlights From Saturday (August 22, 2020)

Working on the weekends like usual, the NBA came through with a four-game dosage of premier highlights on Saturday. The day’s theme was games almost turning into one-sided affairs but becoming entertaining outcomes. The King got a step closer to claiming the Kingdom, the Greek Freak capitalized on an injured Orlando lineup, and the Thunder conquered the Rockets in an extra-inning of play.

Enjoy the best highlights from Saturday’s NBA Playoff action all in one place:

*Via @NBA on Twitter/YouTube

LBJ is Back

Coming off a 10-point scoring night, arguably one of the worst in his career, the four-time MVP LeBron James decided to eviscerate the Blazers with a dominant 38 points and 8 assists. His avalanche of buckets and passes came from various looks around the floor whether it be a strong lay-in inside or an expert alley-oop feed, King James reigned supreme at the end of the day.

Historic night for @KingJames!

👑 38 PTS, 12 REB, 8 AST
👑 4 3PM (3rd all-time in #NBAPlayoffs threes)
👑 @Lakers W (2nd all-time in #NBAPlayoffs wins) pic.twitter.com/7GRI2UVCFw
— NBA (@NBA) August 23, 2020

OKC’s Clutch Guards

With Houston threatening to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chris Paul were the Thunder’s backbone as they sunk game-saving buckets to force OT and vault them to stealing Game 3.

SGA and CP3 come up CLUTCH for OKC as they win game 3! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/S44w4Pm8CE
— NBA TV (@NBATV) August 23, 2020

Greek Freak at His Peak

The Orlando Magic were already depleted of their usual Forwards to match-up with Giannis, and James Ennis getting ejected after a scrum with Marvin Williams didn’t help either. It was an absolute mismatch as the Greek Freak exposed Orlando’s front-court defense, bulldozing his way to easy buckets inside to take the lead in the series.

Giannis (35 PTS, 12-14 FG) was unstoppable in Game 3 😤 pic.twitter.com/DWDdXnBnbY
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) August 22, 2020

Giannis is very good at basketball. pic.twitter.com/5ErLYCTO4l
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) August 22, 2020

Air Greek Freak. pic.twitter.com/9NbYXC6ydP
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) August 22, 2020

Jimmy & Dragic Pour It On

Sixth Man of the Year candidate Goran Dragic, and regular free throw line attendee Jimmy Butler went to work against the Sabonis-less Pacers to light up the box score for 51 total points. Butler made most of his money at the charity stripe while Dragic dropped in five triples to take down Indy.

Buckets x Dragon put @MiamiHEAT up 3-0! #NBAPlayoffs @JimmyButler: 27 PTS, 8 REB, 3 STL@Goran_Dragic: 24 PTS, 6 AST, 3 STL, 5 3PM pic.twitter.com/OW3LGxDQLu
— NBA (@NBA) August 22, 2020

Adebayo’s Outburst

Bam Adebayo and the Heat are on the cusp of sweeping the Pacers. The 2020 Skills Challenge winner got busy by diving inside for tough layups and pulled down double-digit boards to give his squad the 3-0 advantage in the first round series.

Bam (22 PTS, 11 REB & 5 AST) put on a show in Miami’s Game 3 win 💥 pic.twitter.com/k9cfWcHjUl
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) August 22, 2020

Malcolm’s Magical Day

Former Rookie of the Year Malcolm Bogdan kept Miami’s defense on their toes by delivering a career-high scoring and assist output by hitting shots from every spot on the floor like a game of H.O.R.S.E. Down 20 at one juncture, he sparked the Pacers comeback, but couldn’t get them over the hump for their first win of the 2020 postseason.

What a game for @MalcolmBrogdon7. 💪

34 PTS | 14 AST (#NBAPlayoffs career highs) pic.twitter.com/ldLULcjQCJ
— NBA (@NBA) August 22, 2020

AD’s 2nd Half

Anthony Davis came alive after halftime, adding 23 points after a six-point first half. Him being the happy recipient of lobs and pick-and-pop passes throughout the night’s proceedings were the right ingredients for the Lakers’ to take control of the series 2-1.

✨ @AntDavis23 scores 23 of his 29 PTS the 2nd half to lift the @Lakers in Game 3! #NBAPlayoffs #WholeNewGame

11 REB | 8 AST | 2 STL | 3 BLK pic.twitter.com/8f4drVK9SW
— NBA (@NBA) August 23, 2020

He makes it look easy.

( 📺: ABC) pic.twitter.com/ZiY7HOhaeY
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 23, 2020

AD Denies Dame

After suffering a dislocated finger in Game 2, Dame showed he could play through it with a dominant 14-point first quarter. However, he came up short on this dunk attempt as AD met him at the rim for the rejection.

Hard no by Brow followed by a Fresh finish ✊

(📺: ABC) pic.twitter.com/4vv7zOP49H
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) August 23, 2020

Green’s Glorious Rejection

NBA veteran Jeff Green gave OKC some grief on this demoralizing denial as he chased down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with an energetic recovery.

https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/1297323961617993734?s=20

Adams’ Annihilates Rockets

It didn’t take long for the New Zealand native Steven Adams to get into a groove on Saturday with a straight drive to the rack for the Thunder’s first bucket of the game en route to their first win of the playoffs.