Phoenix and Denver meet in the conference semifinals. Respectively scorers of the Los Angeles Clippers and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, April 25, during the fifth game of the first round of the playoffs of the North American Basketball League (NBA), the two franchises validated their tickets for the last four of the Conference West. For the Eastern Conference, on the other hand, Boston, which could also qualify at the end of the evening, failed to get rid of Atlanta.
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The Nuggets in pain
The Denver Nuggets had to battle against the Timberwolves (112-109), who finally cracked in the last moments, while Nikola Jokic took things in hand – eight of his 28 points made in the last 90 seconds of the game.
The double MVP (most valuable player, best player) title, yet clumsy (8/29 shooting), ended with a big triple-double (17 rebounds, 12 assists). His teammate, Jamal Murray, was the most prolific on Tuesday with 35 pawns.
And it took the two team leaders to be concerned to contain the resistance of Minnesota, bleeding inside with 58 points scored (against 40), Karl Anthony Towns (26 points, 11 rebounds) and Rudy Gobert ( 16 points, 15 rebounds) redoubled efforts.
But the “two twin towers” collected six faults, synonymous with exclusions in the last thirty seconds, and Anthony Edwards (29 points) narrowly missed the extension.
Qualified (4-1), Denver, seeded noh 1 in the West, will therefore face Phoenix (noh 4).
An erupting Devin Booker for Phoenix
The Suns finished with the Clippers too in five games (136-130). The latter, too diminished by the absences of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, made a strong impression in the first period, returning to the locker room with a nine-point lead (70-61).
Devin Booker then erupted in the third quarter, scoring 25 points (10 assists), with insolent skill (10/11 on shots over this period, 19/27 at the end of the match). Not enough to beat LA, who did not give up, reducing the gap from 20 to 2 units in the last three minutes, thanks to Nick Powell (27 points) and Nicolas Batum (19 points) in particular.
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It was finally Kevin Durant who worked to stifle this ultimate rebellion, with 4 precious points scored in the last 58 seconds (31 in total) to make people forget the sudden feverishness of his team.
The Boston Celtics’ overconfidence
Never sell the skin of the bear… This is the mistake made by the Celtics, who saw themselves facing the Philadelphia 76ers, already qualified, a little too early, leading by 13 units at the start of the last quarter. At the end of the meeting, they lost (119-117) to a long distance banderilla from Trae Young two seconds from the buzzer. The leader of the Hawks, deprived of his attacking partner Dejounte Murray, suspended for having slightly jostled a referee in the previous match, pulled out all the stops in money-time.
“We were missing an important element and we wanted him to play the sixth game”, argued the hero of the evening about his teammate. Cold-blooded and with a warm hand (38 points, 13 assists), he walked with leaps and bounds on the Garden floor, bringing Atlanta to a tie (111-111) 2 min 30 s from the end, before ensure his free throws every time he crosses the line. His 16 pawns in the final period put K.-O. the Celtics. If Boston remains in favorable waivers (3-2), he will have to recover from this disillusionment, Thursday in Georgia.
