Apr 28, 2024, 08:55 ET
Los Angeles Lakerswith a LeBron James decisive, defeated Denver Nuggets in the fourth game of the series the NBA playoffs and thus avoided the sweep of the champion. For its part, The Miami Heat could not make good on the triumph they had obtained as a visitor and lost at home to the Boston Celtics. Besides, Oklahoma City Thunder continued with a firm step and is 3-0 contra New Orleans Pelicans y Orlando Magic was imposed as local and tied the series 2-2 against Cleveland Cavaliers.
The twelfth time was the charm and the Los Angeles Lakers, after eleven consecutive losses against the Denver Nuggets, achieved victory this Saturday by 119-108 and avoided the sweep (1-3) against the current NBA champion.
Those in purple and gold have not defeated the Nuggets since December 2022 and still have a practically impossible mission to overcome this first round series in the West since no team in NBA history has survived a 0-3 loss.
But at least they got rid of that recent curse that haunted them against Nikola Jokic’s team and they also avoided being swept in two consecutive years against Denver.
The Lakers finally managed to change the script of their last confrontations against the Nuggets and they did so with the help of some fantastic LeBron James (30 points with 14 in the last quarter, 5 rebounds and 4 assists) and Anthony Davis (25 points, 23 rebounds and 6 assists).
The contributions of Austin Reaves (21 points and 6 assists) and D’Angelo Russell (21 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists) were also very important.
Faced with their usual collapse in the third quarter against the Nuggets, on this occasion the Angelenos, who arrived with a +13 at halftime, did not collapse and solved that period with a partial tie of 30-32.
Darvin Ham’s team became strong in the paint with 72 points compared to Denver’s 52.
Unable this time to orchestrate another dazzling comeback, the Nuggets counted on a new triple-double from Nikola Jokic (33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists).
Michael Porter Jr. (27 points and 11 rebounds) and Jamal Murray (22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists) supported the Serbian genius.
The fifth game of this tie will be played in Denver this Monday.
Boston Celtics marked territory this Saturday by overwhelming the Heat 104-84 in Miami to take a 2-1 lead in the first round series of the Eastern Conference playoffs and avenge the last defeat that Erik Spoelstra’s team inflicted on them in the TD Garden.
The Heat went from 23 triples in that second game to connecting just 9 of 28 at the Kaseya Center and were overwhelmed from start to finish by the Celitcs who led 63-39 at halftime.
Joe Mazzulla’s team, the best team in the regular series, finished the season with 18 more wins than the Heat, who had to go through two rounds of play-in to access the playoffs.
Jayson Tatum, with a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Jaylen Brown, with 22 points, led the Celtics’ victory. Latvian Kristaps Porzingis contributed 18 points and Derrick White scored 16.
Dominican Al Horford scored 9 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for Boston.
Boston, which was eliminated last year in the NBA Eastern Conference finals precisely by the Heat, is now two games away from a place in the round.
The fourth game of the series will be played again in Miami next Monday, while the fifth will be played at the TD Garden in Boston on Wednesday.
Oklahoma City Thunder gave another test of strength this Saturday and beat the New Orleans Pelicans 106-85 as a visitor to take a 3-0 lead in the first round series of the playoffs.
The Thunder, the best ranked in the West, will have their first chance this Monday to secure their place in the second round, in which they will face the winner of the series between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again led the Thunder with 24 points and 8 assists and Jalen Williams contributed 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
Chet Holmgren, despite scoring only 6 points, made a valuable contribution in the paint with 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Josh Giddey, with 21 points and 8 rebounds, and Lunguentz Dort, with 12 points, shone from the arc and connected four triples each.
The Pelicans, who are still without Zion Williamson, who was injured in the first round of the play-in, failed to compete on equal terms against one of the youngest and most spectacular franchises of this season.
They shot 38% from the field and 28% from the three-point line, going 9 of 32. Brandon Ingram was the Pelicans’ leading scorer with 19 points, while CJ McCollum scored 16.
Puerto Rican José Alvarado did not score points in 10.46 minutes on the court.
The Orlando Magic destroyed the Cavaliers 112-89 this Saturday with a comeback and this first round series in the East returns to Cleveland with a 2-2 tie.
This young and amazing Magic (fifth in the East) reacted wonderfully after falling in the first two games of the tie and now left doubtful the Cavaliers (fourth) who showed a poor image in their two games in Florida.
Especially humiliating was the second half of this Saturday for the Cavaliers, sunk with a painful 61-29 accumulated in the last two quarters.
After losing the third game by a resounding 121-83, the Cavaliers started this fourth game with a good feeling, dominated the first half and went into halftime ahead (60-51) with 18 points from Donovan Mitchell.
But the Magic’s fury was unleashed in the third quarter with a monumental 37-10 in that period in which they showed off with enormous effectiveness (59.1% in field goals and 60% in triples).
Orlando’s defense was also key and the Cavaliers lost 6 balls in that quarter and also remained at a grotesque 22.2% shooting rate.
With the home crowd excited by the fascinating reaction of their team, Jamahl Mosley’s men did not take their foot off the accelerator in the final quarter and, from 51-60 at halftime to 107-78 with 4.10 remaining when both teams sent resting all their starters, the Magic ridiculed the Cavaliers with a gigantic run of 56-18.
Franz Wagner (34 points on an immense 13 of 17 shooting, 13 rebounds and 4 assists) was Orlando’s commander with 55.8% shooting.
Jarrett Allen (21 points and 9 rebounds) and Mitchell (18 points and 6 assists) were the most productive of some very poor Cavaliers in the triple (4 of 17).
2024-04-28 12:55:00
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