Friday night fever in the NBA. And definitions. The Golden State Warriors they eliminated the memphis grizzlies with his iconic partner Klay Thompson Y Stephen Curry while, in a duel of giants with Giannis AntetokounmpoJayson Tatum drove Friday to the boston celtics until the seventh and final match of their tie against the milwaukee buckswho had the Argentine on the court Luca Vildoza for 84 seconds.
Klay Thompson pulled out head injury
On a very special night for veteran Klay Thompson, the Golden State Warriors posted a hard-fought 110-96 win against the Ja Morant-less Memphis Grizzlies and qualified for the Western Finals 4-2 on aggregate. Thompson was the star of the locals with 30 points and eight triples, again enjoying a great playoff game after overcoming more than two and a half years injured. “I was nervous all day, I had butterflies in my stomach, but I’m so proud of my team,” said the 32-year-old shooting guard.
With its iconic all-star trio of Thompson, Curry and Draymond Green, the Warriors will fight for the Western title for the first time since 2019, when they played the last of their five consecutive NBA Finals, in which they won three rings. “This is very special, I don’t take it lightly,” Thompson said. “You can’t take anything for sure, nothing is guaranteed in sport.”
The joy of Klay Thompson for the classification. (AP)
With 30 points from Dillon Brooks and 25 from Desmond Bane, the Grizzlies were close to forcing the seventh game of the series despite the loss of their star Morant, injured since the third game.
Without the All-Star point guard, Memphis humbled the Warriors on Wednesday with a 39-point win (134-95). This Friday, however, Golden State tried to take advantage of its home court advantage to end the duel early, but the young Grizzlies did another resistance exercise.
Stephen Curry, do you shoot or don’t you shoot? (AFP)
Six minutes from time, a three-pointer by Bane put the Grizzlies ahead (87-89) but the Warriors responded with the final rush to victory, starting with a three-pointer and a steal by Andrew Wiggins and another three-point shot by Curry. The base went into combustion in the final stretch until finishing with 29 points and six triples.
The Warriors now await their rival for the winner of the series between the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericksthat on Sunday they will play the seventh game.
Boston gave the surprise in Milwaukee and stretched the series
On the brink of elimination the Celtics hit the Fiserv Forum of the Bucks, the defending NBA champions, with a 108-95 victory with which they tied their Eastern Conference semifinal 3-3. Tatum had 46 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics and Antetokounmpo 44 and 20 for the Bucks, putting up a heart-stopping Game 7 on Sunday at Boston’s TD Garden.. For the Ciervos, Luca Vildoza played during the final 1’24” (entered for Jrue Holiday with the score 105-92 down), with a failed triple on his return in what was the last play of the night.
The Celtics were on the ropes after their home loss on Wednesday but responded to the pressure with a success recital from the outside shot, with a total of 17 triples (for seven Bucks), seven of them by Tatum. The 24-year-old All-Star forward saved Boston with ten straight points in the fourth quarter when the Bucks had pulled within five (85-81).
Jayson Tatum, the great figure of the Celtics in Milwaukee. (EFE)
Tatum is blossoming as a new NBA superstar in these Playoffs, in which he already fired the Brooklyn Nets in the first round by a resounding 4-0 and averaging 29.5 points per game. Jaylen Brown, with 22 points and four triples, and Marcus Smart, with 21 and seven, were also key to defeating the Bucks, who missed Khris Middleton, their second leading scorer, absent the entire tie with a sprained knee.
The Bucks were unable to take advantage of another towering performance from Antetokounmpo, who became only the third player in history to amass at least 40 points, 20 rebounds and 5 assists in a playoff game. Only Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neal had achieved this mark, who was the last to achieve it with the Lakers in June 2001.
After the spectacular comeback on Wednesday, Antetokounmpo jumped onto the court determined to close the appointment in the conference final with the Miami Heat, who on Thursday struck down the Philadelphia 76ers (4-2). With seven minutes of play, the Greek already had 15 points without missing a single shot from the field (4/4) or free throw (6/6).
The Bucks were not reached by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s great game.
The Bucks took advantage of the fact that Tatum was on the bench to get closer to 85-81 with 8:42 remaining, but the forward returned to the court to put distance with ten points in a row. And it’s all over.
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NBA Playoffs: the finalist Warriors of the West and the Bucks of Vildoza will play the pass in Boston