Three stars from Friday's NBA playoffs
Two lower seeds took the lead in their first-round series, while another went up 3-0.
Here are three players who stood out during Friday's slate of NBA playoff contests.
Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks: 42 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two game-tying three-pointers in Milwaukee's 121-118 loss to Pacers
Milwaukee may have lost Game 3, but it wasn't due to any lack of heroics from Khris Middleton. The Bucks forward scored 42 points while sending the game to overtime with a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation and sinking another game-tying three with eight seconds to go in overtime. It's not his fault Tyrese Haliburton snuck in a basket afterward!
After two injury-plagued seasons, Middleton reminded the world that when he's healthy, he's a really, really good basketball player.
Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks: 21 points (19 in the second half), six assists, four rebounds and two steals in Dallas' 101-90 win over Clippers
Dallas only managed 47 points in Game 3's rock fight of a second half, but 19 came from Kyrie Irving. He kept going to the hoop in an eight-point third quarter, then torched L.A. from the perimeter in the fourth. And while it's a stretch to call Irving a lockdown defender, the Clippers' stars struggled to score. Irving was skillful, patient, deadly and dare we say it...mature?
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves: 36 rebounds, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and +19 in 43 minutes in Minnesota's 126-109 win over Suns
The Timberwolves are up 3-0 on the Suns for plenty of reasons. The biggest might be that Anthony Edwards is wildly outplaying his counterpart, Devin Booker. Edwards scored 36 points, shooting 12-for-23 from the field and a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. 18 of his points happened in the fourth quarter. He's outscored Booker 84-61 in the series.
Edwards tied Kevin Garnett with his seventh 30-point playoff performance for most in franchise history. He's only 22 years old.
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