In the first game of the tie at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns 109-95 with 21 points and 9 assists from LeBron James and 34 points and 11 rebounds from Anthony Davis.
The reigning NBA champions thus add two consecutive victories that give them confidence to solve the series against the Suns, who were better in the regular phase by finishing second in the West.
Phoenix, which is playing its first playoffs in a decade, is suffering from its commander’s physical problems on the court, Chris Paul.
The veteran point guard, who suffered a concussion to his right shoulder in the first game, spent 27 minutes on the court and had just 7 points and 6 assists.
Guard Devin Booker had 19 points on a poor 6/19 shooting from the field and was sent off with 35 seconds left after a hard foul on Dennis Schröder.
The Lakers, who are recovering the competitive rhythm after qualifying for the playoffs in the repechage, secured the victory with a spectacular third quarter in which Davis marked the difference with 18 points.
The Staples Center crowd celebrated their team’s first playoff triumph since 2012 in style, as they won last year’s championship at the “bubble” venue at Disney World.
Miami needs a miracle
The Milwaukee Bucks, meanwhile, they overwhelmed 113-84 Miami Heat on their court and went ahead 3-0 in the tie.
Los Bucks de Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 17 points and 17 rebounds, could seal their classification next Saturday in the fourth game of the series, which will also be held in Miami (Florida).
Despite the support of a fiery American Airlines Arena, the Heat again crashed into the Bucks defense, scoring just 36 points in the first half.
Miami stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo finished with 19 and 17 points, respectively, but only one other teammate, backup Nemanja Bjelica, also reached double digits in scoring.
Miami, sixth in the regular season of the Eastern conference, desperately needed a win in Game 3 so that the series did not become an almost impossible mission. since no team has come back from 3-0 against.
The Heat once again exhibited a huge offensive misstep, with disastrous percentages of 37.6% on field goals and 28.1% on triples.
For the Bucks, the point guard Jrue Holiday, with 19 points and 12 assists, and the shooting guard Khris Middleton, with 22 points and 8 rebounds, they were once again key both in offense and in a defense that drowned his rival.
In this way, Milwaukee caresses its revenge for the elimination at the hands of the Heat in the second round of the last playoffs, in which Miami reached the Finals losing to the Lakers.
???? @Jrue_Holiday11‘s double-double helps the @Bucks take a 3-0 series lead! #NBAPlayoffs
19 PTS | 12 AST
Game 4 – Sat, 1:30 PM ET, TNT pic.twitter.com/KVuFHysiWX
– NBA (@NBA) May 28, 2021
Nuggets overtake Blazers
In the last game of the day, the Denver Nuggets they won 120-115 in the field of the Portland Trail Blazers and they went ahead 2-1 in their Western series with great performances from the Serbian Nikola Jokic and the Argentine Facundo Campazzo.
Jokic, favorite for the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award, once again carried the weight of the Nuggets with 36 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
The center dominated the game throughout the night and ended the Blazers’ last hopes when, with one second to play and the Nuggets just three points up, he grabbed an offensive rebound after a missed free throw by Monte Morris and scored the last basket.
Campazzo had a very complete performance on both sides of the court with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
For the Blazers, who will try to level the tie again in Portland on Saturday, Damian Lillard scored 37 points and CJ McCollum another 22.
36 PTS, 11 REB and the GAME-SEALING putback for Nikola Jokic! #NBAPlayoffs @nuggets up 2-1.. Game 4 is Sat. at 4pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/hCd4EVB1Wx
– NBA (@NBA) May 28, 2021
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