NBA Playoffs: triumph of the Suns and comeback of the Celtics

Phoenix Suns victory to Denver Nuggets by 121-114 this Friday in the semifinals of the Western Conference of the NBA and thus achieved his first victory in the series. A triumph that was created thanks to the brilliant performance of Devin Booker, who converted 47 points (equaled his record in the Playoffs) and had an amazing 20/25 ERA from the field. The guard also added 5 triples and 9 assists and had a luxury squire in Kevin Durant, who contributed 39 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

The spectacular performance of the Suns duo made up for the veteran point guard’s loss due to injury Chris Paul, whose return for this tie is in doubt after suffering a left groin strain in Game 2. The prominence of Booker and Durant was so extreme that none of the other eight Suns players reached double figures in scoring, including center DeAndre Ayton (4 points).

In the Nuggets his trio of figures also shone, especially Nikola Jokic. The Serb had a night to remember: he achieved a scandalous triple double of 30 points, 17 rebounds and 17 assists. Never before in history has an NBA player had at least 25 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a playoff game. Point guard Jamal Murray accompanied him with 32 points and forward Michael Porter Jr. with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The Suns, who were desperate to avoid a 3-0 deficit (no team came back in that situation) were up 15 points at halftime, but in the second half they had to work to neutralize several attempts to turn the game around from from Denver. The series will continue this Sunday from 9:00 p.m. (Argentine time) at the Footprint Center, Phoenix’s home.

Boston Celtics defeated Philadelphia Sixers 114-102 this Friday in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals and turned the series around 2-1. Solid triumph for the Celtics, who were boosted again by the talent of Jayson Tatum, who finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and several decisive points in the hot moments of the duel.

“We know we can win” expressed after the victory the forward, who had just scored 7 points in the previous duel. “This is a great team. They are proud, electric. To win a championship you have to win one on the road. This series is far from over, but we’ve already taken it.” added Tatum.

Guard Jaylen Brown, with 23 points, and Dominican center Al Horford, with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 triples, were also key to Boston’s victory, which took the lead in the second quarter and maintained its lead. until the end. In the Sixers, the great figure was Joel Embiid, who was also paid tribute by the 20,000 fans present at the Wells Fargo Center for having been chosen as the MVP of the season.

Embiid, who has problems with his right knee, shone with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. However, he did not have enough help in attack to face the comeback. Not even from James Harden, who had had a tremendous start to the series (45 points in Game 1) but who, in this game, stayed at 16 points with a 3/14 stat from the field.

The young shooting guard Tyrese Maxey wasn’t good at shooting either (13 points on 4/16) and Tobias Harris had 7 points. The series will also continue this Sunday from 4:30 p.m. (Argentine time) at the Wells Fargo Center, the home of the Sixers.