The defending champion Toronto Raptors moved within one win of advancing in the NBA playoffs Friday with a convincing 117-92 win over the injury-depleted Brooklyn Nets.
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points, pulled down eight rebounds and
handed out five assists for the Raptors, who connected on 50.5% of their shots from the field and 47.8% from three-point range.
Kyle Lowry came up just short of a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for a Raptors team that can clinch a second round berth in game four on Sunday.
"We're just taking it a possession at a time," Lowry said. "We can't focus on anything else. Closeout games are always the toughest. We know they're not going to lay down."
The Raptors had trounced the Nets in game one of the series in the NBA's coronavirus quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida.
The injury-hit Nets made it closer in game two, but made just 30 of 90 shots from the floor in game three.
Tyler Johnson led the Nets with 23 points, Caris LeVert added 15 and Chris Chiozza chipped in 14 off the bench, but, as in game one, the Nets never led.
Fred VanVleet opened the game with a three-pointer. Johnson answered with a three-pointer to tie it, but Lowry's shot from beyond the arc in the second minute put the Raptors up for good and Toronto would lead by as many as 31 in the fourth quarter.
VanVleet finished with 22 points, connecting on six of 10 three-point attempts.
Serge Ibaka added 20 points and 13 rebounds off the Raptors bench.
In Western Conference action, the Utah Jazz cruised past the Denver Nuggets 124-87, taking a 2-1 series lead with their second straight lopsided win.
This one owed plenty to Mike Conley, playing his first playoff game in the bubble after leaving for the birth of his daughter and then quarantining for four days upon his return.
Conley made seven of eight three-point attempts on the way to 27 points, leading three Jazz starters with 20 or more.
– Conley happy to be back –
Rudy Gobert added 24 points and 14 rebounds and Donovan Mitchell added 20 points and four rebounds. All got plenty of rest as well, sitting out much of the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
"I was just truly happy to be back with these guys," Conley said. "Being in quarantine is not easy — four days, 30 minutes a day you get to go outside and maybe touch a ball, shoot in a parking lot.
"Just to go out there and play the game — the guys made it easy for me tonight."
Utah held the Jazz to 37.5% shooting, with Nikola Jokic finishing with 15 points, five rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets and Jamal Murray adding 12 points.
They got to the free throw line 11 times, compared to the Jazz's 26 free throw attempts.
Conley said the impressive final margin didn't really matter.
"Honestly, when you win a game in the playoffs, no matter how many points you win by, it's just a win," he said. "They can swing any way in the series."
