NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking Points from NBA Playoffs - April 17th - James Harden and the Houston Rockets annihilate the Utah Jazz

April 17th of the NBA playoffs featured three exciting matches. All the teams have now played each other two times.

The first match of the night was a nail-biting encounter between the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics. The Pacers led for most parts of the match but the Celtics ran away with the match when it mattered the most. The match ended with a scoreline of 99-91 in the Celtics' fafavourThe second match of the night was a blowout win for the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks were the best team in the NBA during the regular season. They have continued their domination in the playoffs getting two easy wins. They won this match against the Pistons by a scoreline of 120-99.

The final match of the night saw James Harden and the Houston Rockets coasting to a comfortable win against the Utah Jazz. They won this match by a scoreline of 118-98.

Let's have a look at the three key talking points:

#3 Domination in the clutch period from the Celtics

The Celtics and the Pacers played out a very tantalizing encounter. The Pacers led by 11 points going into the 4th quarter but totally lost control of the match during the final moments.

The Celtics displayed their peak performance as they outscored the Pacers by 10-0 during the final 50 seconds of the match and thus, take a 2-0 advantage in the series. Kyrie Irving was again superb for the Celtics. He finished with 37 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists on an outstanding 15-26 shooting from the floor.

Jason Tatum was also superb as he scored 26 points on the night. This was a welcome sight for the Celtics faithfuls who have seen Tatum struggle for most of the season.